


Red Blood, Red Ice

by PennameAB (PenNameAB)



Series: Red, Blue; Does It Matter? [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Angst, Animal Death, Anxiety Attacks, Anxiety Disorder, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, But he's our dick, Cats, Child Abuse, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Drug Withdrawal, Flashbacks, Gavin is still a dick, Gun Violence, Hurt/Comfort, I'm so sorry, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Past Child Abuse, Please Don't Hate Me, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Smoking, So we love him, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-07-27 14:12:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16220741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PenNameAB/pseuds/PennameAB
Summary: Gavin's stuck with an android as a partner. Great. He didn't think things could get worse but life wishes to prove him wrong. When things take a turn for the worse, Gavin finds himself relying on those he wants nothing to do with. Because life is just a bitch like that.





	1. Silence

Desk duty! They fucking put him on desk duty! For an entire month! Fowler claimed it was because he was worried for Gavin's health after he got shot and the whole warehouse beating. Gavin was also sure that it was under Richard's fucking suggestion that he get put on desk duty. Much like the break he was forced to take, Fowler tried to put him on desk duty for two months. Two months! Gavin would've fucking lost it if that was the case. He managed to persuade the man down to only one month. But still, one month was still too long! He was going stir crazy! Fucking Richard could go off and do whatever the hell it wanted with the cases while Gavin had to sit with his thumb up his ass! It was frustrating! It pissed him off.

Still, it gave him plenty of time to catch up on his paperwork. Which he was on point with now. As soon as something came across his desk, he read and reviewed it in record's time. He was surprisingly efficient when he had no other choice! But because he had no choice but to sit on his ass all day and do paperwork, he got a little creative when it came to keeping himself entertained. Mostly by listening to music with his wireless headphones. Normally that wouldn't be allowed but it was that or Gavin would be throwing temper tantrums every time someone stopped at his desk because they needed something. It allowed him to just get into a grooze, a zone if you would, to get his work done without incident. That and the painkillers he was on helped out  **a lot**. He was a lot more mellow when he was taking them. His gun shot wound and bruised ribbed thanked the doctors every day that he had to take them. Otherwise he'd just be pissy and in pain. Which was never a good combination.

They were so effective in fact, that Tina had made a point on picking on him because of it one lunch break. Since he was stuck inside the precinct day in and day out, it gave them plenty of time to talk and just be friends. Tina was probably one of the few people that could put up with Gavin on a normal basis. Mainly because she was as snappy and temperamental as he was. They butted heads a lot but in the end, it was like a big game to them. They knew not to take the other one too seriously and so they remained good friends.

But regardless, she had called Gavin's painkillers 'magic pills' and tried to swipe one from him. He immediately rejected, 'go get your own bitch,' she called him a greedy bastard and they laughed about it. It was nice, fun even, to be able to hang out with her like this. They used to hang out quite a bit before Gavin hit Detective. Then they're schedules just didn't line up and next thing they knew, it had been months since they last actually got to hang out and talk. Break room talk didn't really count. Like apparently she and her girlfriend got engaged. Like how the fuck did he miss that!? He really was going to have to make it up to her for missing out on that.

Gavin was currently jamming out to his music, fingers tapping along with the beat while his other hand twirled a pencil between his thumb and forefinger. He had a little bit of down time, since he had to wait for confirmation from the responding officer regarding the current paperwork he was working on. He had almost forgotten he was at work when someone tapped him on the shoulder. Gavin jumped like a cat that got sprayed with a squirt bottle. He dropped his pencil, it falling onto the floor under his desk. He pushed his headphones from over his ears to rest around his neck, glancing over his shoulder for a quick second to see Connor standing there. "Fucking 'A' Connor," He grumbled as he moved under his desk to get his pencil. "Do you enjoy sneaking up on people? Mainly me?" He grabbed his utensil.

"Sorry Detective, but you have a guest." Did he hear that right?

"What?" Gavin misjudged the edge of his desk as he tried to stand up, banging the back of his head against it. He let out a loud groan as he cradled his head, dropping the pencil once more. "Fucking ow – why? Phck." Why was this his life? When had it dissolved to this? Him smacking his head against his fucking desk while trying to get something as stupid as a pencil? If he didn't know any better, he could've sworn he heard chuckling from behind him. Who the fuck was laughing at him? It had to be the music that was still playing from his headphones. Yeah, that was it.

He snagged the pencil once again, placing both hands on the edge of the desk to make sure his head was clear as he stood up. Pencil back on the desk, discarded haphazardly, he rubbed the back of his head that still ached as he turned to face Connor. Who was not alone, as he said. But the only issue was that Gavin didn't know the person that was standing next to him. Well, he did. He just didn't know the man personally. Android actually. If he was remembering correctly, it was the leader of the peaceful android revolution. Why the fuck was he there to see someone like Gavin? Fuck what was his name again? Matthew? Morgan? Something with an 'M.'

"Hello Detective Reed," he said, holding his hand out for Gavin to shake. He did. "My name is Markus." That's what it was!

"Uh, hi." Way to go Gavin, real fucking smooth. Markus pulled back his hand after shaking Gavin's a few times. Now that he was up close and personal with the revolutionary leader, Gavin couldn't help but notice just how unbelievably attractive the android was. His mismatching eyes were stunning, his own dancing between the two because he didn't know which one to focus on. The android's smile was warm and friendly. Almost like Connor's. Only, Markus' had this sort of alluring charm to it. Gavin almost couldn't help but return a smile. Almost. He didn't though, mainly because he was more concerned as to  **why**  Markus was there to see him. "Is there a reason you're here to see me?" He asked bluntly, because he was never one for beating around the bush.

"I'm just here to thank you personally for your recommendation to Connor," He gestured to Connor, who stood there idly. Gavin couldn't help but purse his lips together, mainly because he had absolutely no fucking clue what Markus was talking about. He was a bit friendlier to Connor as of late. Nothing too big, he just stopped snapping at him whenever the android came over to him. It's not like they were buddies or friends. Gavin just tolerated his presence a little better than before. After nearly a year of dealing with the android, it was about time. Connor was here to stay, whether Gavin liked it or not.

But still, his interactions with Connor were few and far in between. He tried to remember an instance between the two that might explain what Markus was talking about. He was drawing a blank. And his expression must've shown it too because Markus chuckled a bit at him. Not that he minded, the android's voice was soothing to the ears. His chuckle even more so. He felt his body heat up a little bit from embarrassment. He thought it was embarrassment anyway.

"Forgive me for being so broad. I'm mainly referring to insisting that androids are given a livable wage." Oh that. Wait… **that's**  what this was about? That was over a month ago! He had honestly just mentioned it to Connor in passing. He didn't think the android took him seriously!

His eyes quickly danced over to Connor, who nodded at him slightly with a soft smile on his face. Did this guy ever stop smiling? Why was he so chipper all the time anyway? He looked back to Markus, giving him a hesitant shrug. "Uh…you're welcome?" He wasn't sure how to respond to a situation like this. He crossed his arms and leaned back against his desk, trying to appear casual. Honestly he was nervous and feeling awkward as fuck. "I honestly didn't think you would take me seriously Connor," he admitted easily. Connor just shrugged easily at him.

"Well I'm glad that he did. After showing me just how bad it was for some of our people, I couldn't help but agree with him." 'Showing him,' did Connor take him to Diamond Dust or something. Realization slammed into him like a bus, his face starting to heat up with embarrassment. He was certain of it this time. Connor exchanged the data that Richard took from their conversation with Jenna and shared it with Markus. Did that include what he did to help Jenna out? Oh dear god, he was going to strangle that android!

Gavin let out a nervous and uneasy laugh as he looked away from Markus, rubbing the back of his head absently. "Yeah well, don't mention it," he mumbled. God this was awkward.

"Have you finished that report yet, Detective?" Richard asked from behind him. Thank god! Gavin immediately looked over his shoulder to the android, tapping his desk with his finger.

"Just gotta wait for Chris to respond," he answered. His relationship with Richard was…strained to say the least. Ever since Richard saved him from a gun shot to the head, Gavin had been keeping his distance from the android. He would only really interact with it if he had to. Simply put, Gavin had this fearful respect for the machine now. He tried not to piss it off too much so that Richard wouldn't some day snap at him. So he wasn't as mouthy to it as he was when they first started working together. That, of course, didn't stop him from mouthing out entirely. He would do so if he felt that Richard was being particularly dense about something. Or just really irritated him to the point that he couldn't bite back his tongue. But other than that, he was very cautious around the thing. He didn't want to give Richard a reason to snap him in half like a toothpick or something. And it could do it too. Easily.

"Richard!" Markus greeted happily. "How've you been?"

Richard nodded its head as it took its seat at the desk. "Fine, Markus. Thank you."

Markus turned his beautiful eyes back to Gavin. "Well I'll let you get back to work. I just felt that I should come thank you. I really appreciate you bringing this to my attention," he offered his hand for Gavin to shake again.

Gavin took it again after standing up straight, nodding his head. He couldn't help but marvel over the skin contrast between the two of them. What had prompted Cyberlife to make Markus look the way he did? Did they have to make all their androids look like super models? He was just so pleasing to the eye. Whoever designed Markus sure deserved that paycheck.

Nope, stop those thoughts right now. Nope, no, no no. No. Gavin released Markus' hand finally. Connor started a casual conversation with him as he escorted the leader out of the building. Gavin sat down in his chair but he couldn't help but cast a glance at Markus' retreating form as he left. The fuck was wrong with him?

"Detective," Richard said suddenly. Gavin jumped, snapping his eye forward to look at his partner. "I have another file for you to review until you hear back from Chris." It was staring at him with an intense stare. Gavin merely nodded his head, turning back to his computer as he slid the headphones back over his ears.

_Software Instability ^^^_

* * *

 Gavin had been taken off of desk duty. Fucking finally! It was nothing big, the first case he worked in a month. But it was something! And he was happy with it. For the most part. Okay, he wasn't really happy about it, but he was happy to finally be allowed to work the field again. Fowler had given him and Richard something 'easy' so Gavin could slip back into a routine. He knew the captain was still worried about Gavin's wound, which was why he was willing to bite down his pride and take anything the man would give him. His side was still tender, and he felt a jolt of pain whenever he pulled or twisted at that side too much but other than that, he was as good as new. If new was scratched and scarred the fuck up. Just another one to add to the collection of Gavin's body. It was no wonder he couldn't get a girlfriend. Boyfriend. Whatever. At this point, he wasn't going to be picky. He'd fuck a bush if it showed interest. That's how bad it had gotten.

Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. The thought still remained.

The case was a simple break in and robbery. The two officers found themselves in one of the few apartment districts that was reserved strictly for androids. Mainly because the buildings were considered unsuitable for humans. Markus had purchased the plots of land and paid for the buildings to be fixed up to be livable again. For androids this time. Which was odd to him but whatever. He hadn't really been able to check out and explore these neighborhoods yet. Not that he would want to; he was just curious.

But not matter, the android couple – still weird to him – were at work when the break in happened. Nobody had seen anything but luckily the building had video surveillance for them to review. A few things were stolen, mostly the blue blood that was kept in the refrigerator for the androids – another weird thing, androids using fridges. That instantly put it on the radar for being linked to red ice dealers. Plus the fact that Richard had found traces of latex residue on some surfaces. Meaning human involvement. Unless androids were trying to throw them off of their tail, it was most likely humans.

They were leaving the building, waiting for the elevator in the hallway as Gavin's eyes roamed the interior. It was rather nice. Hell, it was better than the building that he lived in was. Mostly because his building was built before all of the fancy electronics were made. Still, it really said something when some androids lived better than he did. That irritated him slightly.

"You've been awfully quiet today, Detective," Richard commented once the elevator arrived at their current floor, dinging open for them.

Gavin didn't respond, just stepped inside and pressed the button for the ground floor. They began their descent.

"In fact, you've been uncharacteristically quiet ever since you came back from your medical leave."

Again, Gavin didn't say anything. He just stared at he digital panel that told them what floor they were passing. He started to idly tap his fingers against his thigh as he waited.

"Not that I'm complaining about the reduction in hostility and back talk. It's just that I can't help but wonder why, Detective."

Gavin shifted a little, leaning most of his weight on the leg that was furthest away from Richard. He could practically feel the android's eyes boring into the side of his skull. He looked away from the panel and stared up at the android instead. Gavin's brows furrowed as he met that intense gaze, not willing to back down from a challenge.

_Software Instability ^^^_

The doors opened suddenly and Gavin moved to walk out of the elevator. Only for Richard to grab his arm and pull him back. Gavin was about to snap at the android when he realized that people were entering the elevator. Well other androids. His gaze jumped to the panel, they were on the second floor. He had almost gotten off on the wrong floor. Great. Way to go Gavin.

He tugged his arm free of Richard's hold, crossing his arms over his chest as he started to tap his foot. Could this elevator go any slower? Richard stood beside him, hands behind its back with its gaze straight ahead. Ever the image of professionalism. They arrived at the floor and walked out of the building in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading chapter one of Red Blood, Red Ice. We will now embark on the adventure that is part two of my whole series! I hope you guys enjoy it! Let me know what you think in the comments. Any and all feedback helps feed my muse and lets me know that you guys like what I'm doing!
> 
> Does Gavin have a crush on Markus? Yes, yes he does. I couldn't get the thought of him having the hots for the android leader out of my head so it happened. You're welcome.
> 
> Is Gavin giving Richard the silent treatment? Yes, yes he is. Poor boi doesn't know what to do with him.
> 
> Also, I would like to ask some questions regarding my universe because I can't make up my mind when it comes to these topics. 1. Markus and North or Markus and Simon? 2. Should Connor and Hank be in a relationship or should they just remain like a father/son thing? I'm not sure for either of these because I don't really have a preference either way. Let me know. It's gonna be a poll so whichever side gets the most votes is what happens. Yay! Audience inclusion! 
> 
> If you'd like to keep up with updates and my progress, check out my tumblr: pennameab
> 
> See you in the next chapter!


	2. Impasse

Gavin was absolutely  **seething**. As he drove, he was hunched over in the driver's seat, eyes glaring straight ahead with his jaw clenched so tight that his teeth were starting to ache. His knuckles were white as he gripped the stirring wheel with both hands. Gavin was doing his absolute best to take calm, measured breaths to help keep control over his temper. But it was so damn hard right now. Especially with Richard right beside him in the passenger seat. It would be so easy to just deck the fucking android. But again, Gavin was trying to not piss the android off. So he had no choice but to internalize all his anger, which meant he was a boiling pot just threatening to spill over.

Music was blasting from the speakers of his car so he could focus on something other than the anger that was making his hands itch. That itch of wanting to throw punches and just break something. Did Gavin have poor anger management skills? Yes, yes he did. But he didn't know how to handle it differently. Shit, he had poor management over any and all emotion. He knew he was a loose canon when it came to his emotions, but fuck if he knew how to fix that. It was why he didn't really have partners. They just couldn't handle him. And fuck Richard for sticking around. Gavin was sure that if it wasn't the android's mission, it would've left a long time ago for a better partner. The detective didn't blame it, not in the slightest. But it was just a machine that didn't feel so Gavin was stuck with it. Yay.

The radio turned off mid-song. "You missed the turn Detective." Fuck this android! He did not!

"I did not," he practically snarled. He hadn't been paying attention to the road, focusing more inward to keep from boiling over. When he finally tuned back in to where they currently were, he realized that Richard was right. He had blown right passed the turn off to get back to the precinct. "Fuck me," he muttered as he took the next turn.

The music didn't turn back on, now that they were on the right track back to the station. Gavin released the stirring wheel with one hand, grunting softly at the ache in his hand from clenching it for so long to press the power button the radio to turn it back on. It resumed for about one second before it was turned off once again, silence filling the vehicle once again. He pressed the button again. This time, it didn't even turn on.

"Richard I swear to god," he snapped as he tried to turn the radio on again. Nothing. How the fuck was it even doing that!? It's not like his car was one of those automated ones.

"You have damaged your eardrums enough for the day Detective." This dense motherfucker. Gavin growled as he wiped the car into a parking lot with no warning. At the speed he was going, he was hoping that Richard would have to grab onto something to steady itself but it acted like the harsh turn didn't even bother it. He parked the car quickly, not even caring that he was diagonal and taking up four parking spaces.

"Stay in the fucking car," he ordered as he roughly threw his door open. Once he was outside, Gavin slammed the door shut and put his hands on the roof of the car. He leaned against his arms heavily, staring down at the asphalt with his head hanging low as he tried to just calm the fuck down. He started to drum his fingers against the car, starting at the pinkie then going to his index finger, then back down again. A trick he learned that helped calm him down, to take his mind off of whatever unpleasant thing he was feeling or even thinking.

And it was working. Sort of. Until he heard the passenger door open and close. His fingers gripped the roof tightly as he lifted his head slightly to glare at the android over the vehicle. "Don't you ever fucking listen?"

Richard returned his glare easily with a cold stare of its own. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Fuck you," Gavin snapped.

"I am not sure as to why you are so angry Detective," it pressed instead, brushing off Gavin's rude comment. "If it is because I asked you to step outside while I questioned the victim then I won't apologize." The two had been sent out to investigate another break-in. They had been happening quite frequently, which is what lead Gavin to believe this was definitely about gathering blue blood – thirium as Richard liked to remind him every fucking time he didn't call it that – for Red Ice production. Typically the break-ins happened when the android victims were away at work or just weren't home for whatever reason. This one was different because the android had been home when the break-in occurred. Which lead to the possibility of them finally getting a suspect.

"I'm not doing this right now Richard," Gavin grumbled as he turned his back to the android, leaning against the car with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. He didn't want to interact with Richard as much as possible.

"No, you refuse to 'do this' any time I try to talk to you." Gavin could hear that Richard was walking around the car as it spoke, probably to make it so that Gavin couldn't ignore it. The detective glared over at the android, who was walking around the hood of the car. He quickly pushed off of it so that he wasn't leaning anymore and proceeded to walk around the back, keeping distance between him and the android. Childish, sure, but necessary if he was going to keep his hands to himself.

_Software Instability ^^^_

Richard stopped in front of the driver's side door. Gavin stood in front of the passenger. "Must you be so immature?"

Gavin flipped it off. "Bite me, tin can."

"I should not have to explain myself when I request you to allow me to question a victim." It paused. "But if I must. The android was nonresponsive to my inquiries while you were present in the apartment. You were making him uncomfortable, Detective."

_Gavin had tried to talk to the android first, his name being Andrew Lexington. Andrew was very withdrawn with the Detective, practically giving him the cold shoulder as Gavin asked just the basic routine questions. After a few more attempts to get the android to talk to him, he had given up, passing him off to Richard so he could investigate the apartment. It was a decent size. Very minimalistic in its décor and furniture. Maybe that was just Andrew's style. There was even art hung up on the walls, abstract and very new age. It was interesting to look at. But Gavin barely made it pass the living room before Richard approached him. "I suggest that you step outside for a smoke break, Detective," it had told him, very intensely staring down at him._

_The detective huffed with irritation. "Why? I haven't even checked the break-in point." Plus, it was strange that Richard was telling him to indulge in his vices. Usually the android was trying to get him to_ _**stop** _ _smoking._

" _I must insist, Detective. I will analyze it once I'm done with Andrew." Then Richard proceeded to block the apartment off from Gavin with it's body. When Gavin had tried to step around it, it had matched his steps easily, gaze only getting more intense the longer he refused to step out. Gavin grew tired of their game rather quickly before stalking out of the apartment._

_He did as he was told, albeit begrudgingly. He stood off to the side of the door to the apartment complex and lit a cigarette. He was leaning against the building, halfway through the stick when Richard exited the building. As soon as Richard had seen him, it walked over, plucked the cigarette from his lips and pinched the cherry with its fingers to put it out. "We can leave now," was all it said before he threw the cigarette away and started walking towards the car. Gavin gritted his teeth together as he stalked after the android, instantly angered that Richard hadn't informed him as to what it learned._

Gavin threaded both hands through his hair. "You could've fucking told me! I don't know this shit unless you fucking communicate with me!" He groaned angrily.

Richard was cocky enough to cock its head to the side. "Considering that you haven't been communicating with me, I thought it wasn't necessary."

"'Wasn't necessary?' Are you fucking serious!?" Gavin snapped aggressively. He was getting so tired of Richard's shit.

"I am Detective. If you refuse to talk to me, then I see no point in trying to talk to you."

Gavin slammed the palm of his hand against the car, just to hit something, to satisfy that itch he felt in his fingers. "Damn it Nines, that's not how this works!"

Richard started to move around the car again, Gavin making sure to keep the distance between them by moving as well. "Then tell me how it works, Detective." Somehow, the use of his rank almost sounded condensing. Gavin didn't like it. It added to the hot anger he felt in his gut.

This was his time to talk to Richard, to actually tell him what was wrong. If Gavin was brave enough to do so. If Gavin was comfortable enough to express his worries about the android. But that would also mean admitting that Gavin felt scared of the machine, unequal to it. And he would rather be dead than admit those things out loud. So instead of being an adult and talking about his problems, Gavin simply bared his teeth at the android. "Fuck. Off. You hunk of plastic," he hissed. He was now standing at the hood while Richard was standing at the trunk.

_Software Instability ^^^_

It was quiet for a moment. "Then it appears we are at an impasse." Gavin just glared. So it would seem.

* * *

 

The precinct was oddly quiet when Gavin walked back into it after his lunch break. Not that he really cared, it was just odd to him. He didn't give it much thought though, as he passed the receptionist's desk, eyes glued to his phone as he was responding to a text that he had gotten. His shoulder bumped against something, Gavin glancing up to quickly see who it was. "Sorry Connor," he mumbled as he passed the android to get back to his desk. He didn't really register much about the android, just the familiar face.

He was about to sit down at his desk when he saw Connor walk up to his desk from the direction of his own. That immediately caused Gavin to pause, confusion crinkling his brow as the android approached him. "Detective," he greeted. He could see that his LED was flashing red, yellow, red. Gavin blinked, hadn't he just passed Connor?

He looked over his shoulder to see another Connor approaching him with a smile on his face. But this wasn't Richard; no this was definitely another Connor, with the same soft brown eyes and smile. Gavin had to do a double take, looking towards the Connor standing in front of him in his usual Cyberlife issued jacket, LED still blinking; and the Connor that was standing now at his side, dressed in casual clothing with no LED. It was at this point that Gavin had to question if he had been drugged while he had eaten his lunch. Maybe it was something in his drink?

"Uh…" He finally voiced, looking over to Hank's desk. The man was staring at him, their eyes met. Then the man just let out a casual shrug before turning back to his work. Gavin looked back to Connor, their Connor, the one that he worked with. "What?" He finally got out.

"This is Christopher, another RK800 unit. He insisted that you were the one he talked to," Connor explained to him, not exactly sounding pleased about the situation.

"Okay…" He said slowly, looking over to Christopher who brought his hand up and wiggled his fingers at Gavin as a hello. "Why me?" He asked, finally sitting down in his chair.

"Well I work at Diamond Dust. You told us to come to you if we ever had any problems," Christopher explained casually, voice the same as Connor's but somehow…different. Like it wasn't deeper or anything, but it sounded smoother? Somehow.

"Oh," Gavin said, brows still scrunched together in confusion. Then his brain actually registered what the android had said through his confusion. " **Oh!** " He quickly looked around for a spare chair for Christopher to sit in. "Yeah, uh, just…grab a chair," he instructed the other to do. He quickly turned back to his desk to grab his notebook that he left on his desk to take notes in, just in case. He heard Christopher walk away to do as he was told.

"Detective," Connor said suddenly. Gavin had forgotten that he was standing there.

Gavin looked up at him, pulling a pencil out from his desk as well. "Yeah?"

"You sure you want to…" He hesitated. "You sure you're okay interviewing him?"

Gavin nodded his head absently. "Yeah, I got it." Connor looked a mixed between relieved and concerned. His LED was still flashing yellow and red. "It's fine, Connor. Go back to doing whatever you were doing," He waved the android away with his hand, Christopher bringing a chair over to sit in.

Connor simply nodded his head quickly, casting a glance to the android that was sitting down in the chair before going back to his desk. Gavin immediately gave Christopher his attention, slightly put off by the fact he looked exactly like Connor. His elbow was placed on Gavin's desk, cheek resting against his closed fist as he stared at Gavin with a strange expression. He looked oddly relaxed and comfortable. Which was not something he was used to seeing from Connor, or Richard. Where the fuck was that android anyway? It wasn't at it's desk.

But now that he was looking at Christopher, he could pinpoint a few subtle differences between him and Connor. Christopher's hair was only slightly longer and disheveled, not slicked back like Connor and Richard's preferred hairstyle. Gavin could make out lazy waves through the android's hair, which was an attractive look on him to be honest. His eyes were the same color as Connor's but they held a look in them. Seductive almost. His eyes were outlined with the slightest hint of eyeliner, highlighting the shape of his eyes. Which just added to that seductive look. He was staring at Gavin like he was the most alluring thing in the world right now. It was off putting, making Gavin want to squirm in his seat. A soft smile graced his lips, not friendly like Connor but more suggestive. And was that glitter he had on his lips? Was Christopher wearing lip gloss? The fuck?

And the clothing. Connor kept wearing his button up shirt and tie, with that Cyberlife jacket everyday. Christopher was wearing a form fitting dark red shirt with a dark leather jacket sitting on his shoulders. The shirt's collar was a 'V' neck, showing off a slim and pale neck. And where Connor wore casual black jeans, Christopher was wearing tight, distressed light blue ones. Definitely something he wasn't used to seeing on Connor's body. It was weird.

"So what brings you in today?" Gavin asked, slipping into work mode as he opened his notebook to a blank page. He scribbled Christopher's name across the top, listing 'Diamond Dust' under it so he knew what this was about later if he had to refer to his notes at a different time.

Christopher let out a deep, unnecessary breath. "You told Jenna to call you if Kevin ever got unpleasant. I'm here to say that he's been a dick lately. More so than usual." Gavin idly nodded as he wrote that down. "It's not like he's been the best boss in the world, but he was tolerable." He lowered his voice. "Especially after you…ya know." Obviously he was trying to avoid voicing the fact that Gavin fucking punched the douche when he last visited the sex club. Which he appreciated. He didn't know for a fact, and couldn't prove it, but he was sure that Connor was listening to their conversation very closely. Call it a hunch.

"What's been going on?" Gavin questioned, leaning forward in his chair slightly, resting his elbows on his knees as he continued to write in his notebook.

Christopher adjusted in his seat, dropping his fist from his cheek to rest his arm on the surface of the desk. He picked up one of his feet and placed it on top of his own knee. "It started out slowly at first. He would be a little more snippy and irritable, but we just thought it was because of you. Then he started yelling more, getting more handsy."

Gavin set his jaw. "Handsy how?"

The android shrugged. "Not with us. Our clients." He threaded his fingers through his hair, letting it fall and cascade against his forehead. "If they even went a minute over their session time, he'd barge into the room and practically drag them out of the room. It's just not good for business." He sighed. "Then we noticed that he was talking to himself a lot. Muttering things under his breath that just didn't make any sense."

"Like what?"

He shook his head. "I honestly couldn't even tell you. The few times I've heard him, he was complaining about birds, his neighbors, things like that. I didn't think anything of it until he talked about slitting the throat of his neighbor. In excruciating detail." He took a moment, looking off to the side for a moment as he chewed on his lower lip. It should not have been as hot as Gavin found it. He made a point to not stare at the android's lips. "I…I don't know if he's being serious or not but…we're all concerned he might do something to hurt someone. And…" he hesitated again.

"And?" Gavin tried to press.

He was still silent. He set his foot down on the floor and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees just like Gavin was sitting. "I know I wasn't supposed to," he said rather quietly, eyes half lidded as he stared intently at Gavin. "I mean, I still have the same programming and capabilities of any other RK800, being able to analyze evidence and such. I just don't use it. But…I may have let myself into his office to see what was going on." He started to wring his fingers together.

"You broke into your boss's office?" Gavin questioned, eyebrow raised.

Christopher nodded sheepily. "I don't make a habit of breaking the law, I promise. But I found traces of Red Ice in his office. When I analyzed him, he had some on his shirt, hands and around his mouth and nose. He's definitely using but I don't know if he's dealing or not."

This was troubling. "And since he employs androids, he has access to bl – thirium," Gavin quickly corrected himself. He didn't need Richard to pop out of the woodworks and correct him. Fucking prick.

Christopher nodded. "Exactly. As soon as I got off work, I came here to report it." They were going to have to investigate this for sure. It may be coincidence but it might be linked to the break-ins that were happening to android apartments.

Gavin nodded his head absently as he scribbled all that down. "Thank you for coming in Christopher."

"Please," he said, reaching forward and placing a hand on Gavin's forearm. "Call me Chris."

Gavin glanced up at him quickly before going back to writing in his notebook. "Okay, Chris." He pulled his arm away, leaning back in his seat as he turned to his computer screen slightly. "I'll file a report so we can investigate it. I can't guarantee that it'll be me that gets the case, or when we'll be able to look into it immediately so just try to act as natural as possible. Like nothing's wrong. If you could tell the others as well, it'll keep Kevin from suspecting anything. If he is using and/or dealing, it'll be easier to catch him doing it." Gavin was rambling at this point, pulling open the correct forms that he had to fill out to get everything started. "And if you wouldn't mind, we could definitely use the evidence you've already gathered. I have a tablet you can dump it all onto."

Gavin attempted to pull out the tablet he was talking about from his desk, when a hand on his knee stopped him. He glanced up, seeing Christopher leaning in close. "That won't be necessary. I'm willing to interface with your partner or Connor." He gave Gavin an easy smile, larger than the one that had been on his face when he first sat down. The new laws had made it illegal for androids to probe each other's minds, or interface without consent from both parties. So most androids often just dumped the information that they wished to share into tablets and computers. It was less invasive than trying to do it with another android. The whole invasion of privacy and such like that. But since Christopher was consenting, that made it a whole lot easier.

Gavin nodded his head, sitting upright, tablet left in the desk drawer. "Alright." He looked around, not spotting Richard anywhere. Where the fuck was the useless hunk of plastic? He stopped looking around when he felt a thumb start to softly stroke the side of his knee. His eyes immediately snap back to Christopher, the android leaning in close still with that same look in his eye as before, head cocked to the side slightly. "Uh," he hummed without meaning to.

"I really appreciate everything you've done for us Detective. If there's any way I can repay you, just let me know." He gave Gavin a wink.

"Uh." Why couldn't he think of something else to say!? Was he a fucking moron? Getting hit on by a Connor look – a – like was definitely strange. It made his brain not want to function for some fucking reason. He wasn't sure how he felt about the whole situation.

"Detective," He heard Richard say from behind him.

_Software Instability ^^^_

Christopher removed his hand from Gavin's knee and leaned back against his seat. "If you'd get started on that paperwork, I'll gather the information from Christopher." Gavin didn't look up to Richard as it moved to stand beside him, hand outstretched to the android in front of him. He merely nodded his head and turned back to his computer screen so he could do just that. He tried not to pay attention when the two androids interfaced, but he couldn't help but glance over. He was quick to avert his eyes back to the screen when the two released each other's hands. Then Christopher stood to his feet.

"Thank you for your time Detective Reed," he said. As he passed Gavin to walk out off the precinct, he quickly put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. Gavin thought he could feel the ghosting of fingers stroking the back of his neck before the hand disappeared. Surely that was just his imagination. He tried not to think about it as he continued working on the paperwork.

_Software Instability ^^^_

Richard sat down at its desk to do its own work.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading chapter two of Red Blood, Red Ice. I'm so sorry this has been so delayed. I just got a new job so I've been focusing on getting situated with that. It does offer me a lot of free time to write though, so it may be a good thing! I hope the chapter makes it worth the wait. And after some consideration, I realized that this series' chapters will have to be longer to cover all of the content I want it to without lasting like 30 chapters. So yay! You guys get longer chapters! But that also means that it'll take me a little bit longer to write them out. So please just be patient with me! Any and all feedback helps feed my muse and lets me know you guys like what I'm doing!
> 
> So...I hadn't actually considered that the other RK800s would've been activated after the revolution, since they were just spare bodies laying around for Connor to hop into if he died while in the game. So after that was brought to my attention, I just could not not include them somehow into the fic! There are 8 other RK800 models running around! I have ways to include four of them, just not the other four (I get that number because Connor himself is 51 and we all know 60 died after taking Hank hostage in the game, so that leaves 8 left to just be running around doing whatever they want). So if you guys have any ideas, let me know! As we know Christopher works the sex industry. I have two that work with the FBI (because why not?) and another is just a bartender (because, again, why not?). So yeah. Let me know what you think.
> 
> And yes, Chris is definitely trying to get into Gavin's pants. And Gavin has no idea how he feels about that.
> 
> Richard and Gavin will make up soon. I promise. Gavin just has to be immature and stubborn about everything. Also I apologize if the flash back is a little jarring or doesn't fit well. I was trying something new. Let me know what you guys think, ways to make it flow easier or just tell me to not try it again if it sucks that badly hahaha!
> 
> If you'd like to keep up with updates and my progress, check out my tumblr: pennameab
> 
> See you guys in the next chapter!


	3. Questions

The day was not kind to Gavin. Well that was an understatement. The day had literally tried to kill him. Again. Seriously, with this line of work, you'd think he'd be used to almost dying. But no. He wasn't. Not only had be almost been stabbed, again, twice. But he almost got hit by a car. One of those self-driving ones that were supposed to be safer and shit.

Well, so much for that fucking theory. He had managed to dance out of the way of the car, back onto the sidewalk before he became a roadside pancake at the consequence of their suspect getting away. So no only was Gavin licking the wounds to his pride over losing his perp, he was also trying to come down from the emotional rollercoaster that followed a life or death situation. In short, Gavin was not stable at the moment. He felt like his foundation was crumbling. And he just wanted it to stop.

And it wasn't smart, he knew that. But damn it if it didn't make him feel good by numbing the pain! As soon as Gavin had been let off of work, he went home long enough to feed Mister Ass before he darted out the door again. His destination: a bar. Well a club to be exact. He didn't want to sit alone all night listening to shitty music and pool balls clacking against each other. No, he wanted his thoughts to be drowned out by a beat until he couldn't think at all. He wanted to feel the bass thump against his chest like a heartbeat. And if he happened to pick someone up for a one night stand while he was there, then icing on the cake. But that wasn't the reason why he was there.

It never ceased to surprise him how busy the establishments that he visited were, even so early into the evening. There wasn't a line out the door but it still took quite a bit of time for Gavin to find himself seated on a bar stool with music filling his head and lights flashing around his eyes. As a semi-regular, the barkeeper took one look at him before nodding. A drink was set in front of him a few moments later, one of the few drinks he got consistently. Gavin didn't look at it before he was downing the entire thing. All he tasted was lemon, the familiar burn of alcohol following soon afterwards. He waved the bartender over, asking for refill.

"One of those days?" The man leaned in close and yelled, to be heard. Gavin simply nodded. "I'll get you something stronger." This was why he kept coming back to this club. Aaron, the bartender, took very good care of him. And Gavin tipped well so Aaron always made sure he wasn't without a drink for long.

The drinks kept coming, and he felt like he could finally breathe. The pressure and stress of what happened to him lifted and Gavin could finally relax. A few other patrons had tried to come over, to talk to him, to get him to dance but he turned them all down. He just wanted to soak in this feeling without being interrupted. He was alive. Everything was fine. Now if only he could convince himself he was fine, that would be great. Gavin buried his face into his hands.

"Detective Reed," he heard someone say close to his ear. He recognized the voice. Kind of. It was the voice of Connor and Richard. Only not. Honestly, who thought it was a good idea to make them sound the fucking same? He'd like to personally punch them as a big 'fuck you, not a good idea.'

He dropped his hands from his face, resting his arms crossed in front of him on the bar as he looked over. Well, definitely had the face of Connor. Why was he not surprised? But those eyes had a suggestive look to them, and a very pleased smile graced his features. Christopher, apparently.

"I didn't know you frequented this establishment," Christopher probably would've purred if he didn't have to be so loud to be heard, even if they were in close proximity. The android leaned against the bar with his side, elbow on the surface with the front of his body facing Gavin.

"Sometimes," was Gavin's reply with a shrug.

Christopher chuckled. "Well what brings you here tonight then?"

"Why do you wanna know?" Gavin really just wanted to be left alone. He didn't mean to come off as hostile. Maybe he wasn't fully himself yet after his little dance with death today. He hoped that the other didn't take it too personally. Gavin just had a prickly personality.

And it didn't seem like he did, as he smiled slightly at Gavin, leaning towards him a little more. "No particular reason, Detective. Just trying to satisfy my curiosity." It was innocent enough.

Gavin looked away from Christopher as he took a thoughtful sip of his drink. "Rough day at work," was what he answered. He honestly didn't want to get into detail about it.

The android cocked his head to the side slightly. "Wanna talk about it?" Why was he so interested in Gavin?

He shook his head. "No." He watched Christopher make a thoughtful glance off to the side before looking back at Gavin.

"Well, I hear dancing is good for the soul," he tried, moving to stand up straight.

"I think that's laughing, not dancing," Gavin smirked.

"Depends on who you ask," was the quick remark that Christopher shot him. Gavin couldn't help but chuckle at that. He was certainly quick on his feet. Christopher pushed off of the bar to stand straight. He offered his hand to Gavin with a slight cock to his head, smile ever present on his lips. "Shall we?"

To say he was taken back was an understatement. Gavin wasn't sure what to do now. Why was Christopher being so nice to him? Offering his hand and everything? And why did he want to dance? Not that Gavin minded, he liked dancing. Sort of. But this was with a carbon copy of Connor. Wouldn't that be weird?...Well he supposed not. It was like twins. They might look the same but they were entirely different people. And Christopher was definitely  **not**  Connor. Besides, it was just dancing. No harm could come from it right?

After some consideration, Christopher being ever patient with Gavin as he struggled through his inner thoughts, he nodded his head. He quickly downed the rest of his drink before taking the hand that was offered to him. He let Christopher lead him to the dance floor and just started moving.

There was space between them at first, despite the crowd trying to push them together. Then the next thing he knew, Christopher had his hand on the back of Gavin's neck, pulling him close as his other hand gripped his hip. Christopher was slightly taller than him, just like Connor, so Gavin had to look up at him to see his face. The dancing lights played across the face that he had become familiar with without realizing it. But despite Christopher sharing Connor, and even Richard's face, it was different. Somehow. Where Connor was ever the negotiator, trying to appear soft and friendly at all times; Richard was stern, cold, and analytical. Christopher himself held none of these. The lights played off of his pleased smile, casting shadows across his features to accent his cheekbones. His eyes appeared darker despite the flash of lights, alluring as they tried to draw Gavin in. He found that he couldn't really look away, not with Christopher holding him close and emitting this confidence that made something in Gavin stir. He swallowed hard. He was definitely not thinking straight. He may have drank too much. But he'll be damned if he wasn't going to enjoy himself anyway.

They continued to move against each other, Gavin finding his hands starting to explore Christopher's chest on their own accord. They started at his hips, feeling how slim they were, before fingers traced up his flat stomach. Hands flattened when they reached his chest and pectorals. He shouldn't have been surprised at how firm and fucking perfect they felt under his hands. One hand stayed on his chest as the other continued to explore up to a sturdy shoulder. Fingers traced down the synthetic muscle and skin before curling around the back of Christopher's bicep. He could feel the android shiver against him. Which was strange, he didn't think he'd be able to elicit such a reaction. Not that he minded. Quite the opposite. It excited Gavin. His hand stopped suddenly, hand resting like a grip on the android's bicep. His firm and shapely bicep. Fuck. Whoever designed him definitely deserved their paycheck.

He was brought out of his thoughts of marveling over Christopher's form with a soft brush of a nose against his cheek. Eyes half-lidded, Gavin turned his head slightly towards the touch. Next thing he knew, Christopher's lips were pressed against his in a soft but confident kiss. Gavin couldn't, or didn't, stop the groan that came from the back of his throat, gripping Christopher's bicep tightly. With a flick of his tongue on his lip, Gavin gave Christopher access into his mouth. The hand that was on the back of his neck slid to the side, palm against his jaw as the android angled Gavin's head for a deeper kiss. Another groan escaped him, his open palm turning into a fist as he gripped the android's shirt.

It was strange; the kiss. Gavin wasn't sure what he was expecting from kissing an android. His kiss was Jenna was too quick and close lipped to where he didn't really get anything out of the experience. Not that he wanted anything out of that experience. It's just that he was expecting something different with Christopher. There was no taste really. Not like you'd get with kissing another person. Human. Whatever. He was expecting an almost metallic taste, since Christopher was an android. It made sense to him. But there was nothing. His mouth wasn't dry, there was liquid for sure. Solution is probably a better word for it. Whatever the fuck it was that was inside an android's mouth. It tasted clean. If clean had a taste. Or lack thereof. He wasn't sure. He couldn't exactly think straight, but he knew it intrigued him.

Then he wondered how he tasted to the android. Probably like the alcoholic beverages he'd been drinking all night. It must not have bothered Christopher is he was kissing Gavin with such enthusiasm. So he really shouldn't be worried. But for some reason, he couldn't help but question if he remembered to brush his teeth this morning. Not that it probably mattered, being so late into the evening. Still. Unnecessary stress is what Gavin lived for.

He wasn't sure how he ended up at Christopher's place. He vaguely recalled the kiss ending, the android asking him a question, and Gavin agreed to it. The taxi ride to his place was a such haze of grabbing hands and heated kisses that when they were finally inside the apartment, Gavin had to take a moment to physically breathe before Christopher was on him again. Kisses lead to nipping each other's lips, then lips and teeth left lips to trail down necks and jaws. Hands grabbed and pressed at anything they could.

Christopher shucked off Gavin's jackets quickly, while Gavin's own hands worked under the android's shirt to feel smooth and perfect synthetic skin. He wasn't sure who purred but soon they stumbled into the bedroom, lips never leaving skin. Gavin found himself on his back, shirtless as he stared up at Christopher, who was smiling seductively as he climbed onto Gavin's lap to straddle him.

Fingers traced across his chest, Gavin suddenly feeling self-conscious about his body. Mainly because he knew what the other was tracing without having to look: all the scars that littered his body. The knife wounds and gun shots. The long, thin lines that popped up without him knowing where they came from. Thick, fat ones from where he got into one too many fights with a perp. And then of course all the dangerous shit he did, like jump through broken windows. There had been a bomb explosion at one point. That was fun.

"You're even better looking than I first thought," Christopher purred as he dipped his head low, bending over Gavin's body to trail his tongue over a scar that ran from the center of his chest to about an inch above his right nipple. Gavin laid his head back and moaned breathlessly. He heard Christopher let out content chuckle before sitting up once more. The shift caused Gavin to look back up at him, the android staring down at him with hooded eyes paired with biting his lower lip. "Before I forget to ask, do you prefer top or bottom?"

Now that was not what Gavin was expecting. Usually these hook ups lead to Gavin being bottom. With the occasional top. Not that he minded either way. But the question still caused his brain to sputter. More so than it already was. "Uh," he said, physically having to shake his head to clear it enough to think about an answer. "Whatever. I don't care," was as good an answer as he could think of. While the thought of being top again was thrilling, he would honestly be okay with Christopher just fucking him into the mattress. He shook his head again. "Whichever you enjoy more," he added quickly.

Christopher let out a hum. "Attractive and a considerate lover." He leaned back, grinding his ass against Gavin to elicit a gasp from the man. "I've really hit the jackpot." Gavin felt his face flush. He wasn't given much time to even think about a response before Christopher was kissing him again with renewed vigor.

* * *

 The shrill of his alarm clock on his phone is what woke him up the next morning. Gavin groaned at the pain in his head, closing his eyes tightly and burying his head into the pillow beneath him. The noise wouldn't stop. He groaned once more, moving to sit up when he realized just how sore he was. He opened his eyes, realizing that he wasn't in his room. He wasn't even in his apartment. The events of the night crashed into him as he looked around, shame burning his cheeks hot. It wasn't that he was ashamed of what he did. Sex was good. Sex was fun. It's just that he did it with Christopher. Who worked the sex industry. Who was practically Connor and Richard's brother! Did they even consider themselves family? It was hard to think that they wouldn't. They had the same fucking face. But, then again, Gavin wasn't too thrilled with who he was related to. So maybe they didn't.

But what if they  **did**? Gavin buried his face into his hands. He didn't often regret his one night stands. But this was definitely one of them. He should not have drank so much. He should've told Christopher 'no.' Why did he think it was a good idea? But dear god, if it wasn't good sex. At least it was good for him. Christopher definitely knew his way around the human body. Not that it surprised him. The android worked at a sex club after all. Which was another point of confusion for Gavin. Why would the android want to sleep with him when his days were filled with sex? Seemed kind of…wrong almost? Was that even the right word? He didn't know. He couldn't think straight with the pounding in his head and that fucking noise ringing in his ears.

Oh right, alarm clock.

Gavin looked around for the source of the noise, finding his clothing folded nicely on the bedside table next to him. His jeans on top of his shirt, his phone sitting on top of the jeans next to a folded paper note. He grabbed both the note and phone. He turned off the alarm without looking at the time, the paper being the center of his attention. He opened it to see eloquent – there was no better word for it – cursive that was apparently Christopher's handwriting.

_G._

_I'm sorry I couldn't be there when you woke up. Feel free to help yourself to the shower. I don't have much for food so I'll make it up to you later. I had an amazing time. Let me know if you ever want to do it again. I hope to hear from you soon._

_C._

And next to the 'C' was a little heart. Gavin found it oddly sweet. He stared at the note for a long while before he hefted a big sigh. While he did enjoy himself, he wasn't sure if he would take Christopher up on his offer of doing this again. He didn't think he could handle the guilt.

Because he was feeling guilty. He didn't know why exactly. But he felt that he, somehow, betrayed Connor's trust. Or something. It was so fucking stupid too. He knew he shouldn't feel bad for what happened. He and Christopher were both consenting adults. But still. That feeling lingered and he didn't know what to do with it. So Gavin just swallowed it, set the note aside to check his phone.

"Phck!" He hissed, jumping out of bed to throw his clothes on. He was going to be late to work! He didn't know where he was and he didn't have his car. As he grabbed his things, not paying much attention to the furniture of the layout of the apartment as the mantra of 'fuck, fuck, fuck!' repeated in his head on his way out of the building. He didn't even have time to check his appearance to make sure he looked presentable. Flashbacks of last night suggested that he did not. Much to his dismay.

He didn't even have time to go home to feed Mister Ass! Gavin called a cab to take him right to the precinct, still ending up ten minutes late to work. His head was pounding, but the guilt and shame of walking into the station with the same clothes as yesterday after fucking Christopher made him hesitant. He tried to keep his head down, eyes lowered as he briskly walked through the building pass the receptionist desk and towards his desk.

His ass didn't even touch the chair before he was swooped on upon by Tina. The fucking woman was like a hawk when it came to his sex life. She was always around whenever he had one of his one night stands. Always hovering and wanting details. It was like a sixth sense. Or she was stalking him. Which was equally possible with that woman. "Gavin Reed," she said, drawing his name out in a sing-song way. He sat down, pointedly ignoring her as he signed into his computer. "Looks like the dry spell is finally over huh?" She was now leaning against his desk, knowing smile gracing her lips.

"Shut up," he snapped, but he held none of the usual bite it would've. Instead, his eyes were trying not to locate Connor and Richard. He honestly didn't know if he could face them. After fucking someone who had their face. Richard, luckily, wasn't at its desk. And he was sure Connor was across the way by Hank. So it looked like he was in the clear. For now.

"So who was the lucky guy?" But that still meant he had to deal with Tina. Fucking Tina Chen who couldn't help but stick her nose into his affairs. Literally. He tried to ignore her but she wasn't having any of it. With a light tap on his arm, she leaned closer to him. "Oh come on! You can't come in looking like  **that**  and  **not**  tell me what happened! Was he hot? Did he rock your world? Sure as hell looks like he did," she teased.

Gavin's brow furrowed. He honestly didn't know how bad he looked. He glanced over to Tina, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible. "How…how bad is it?" He muttered. Normally he couldn't give two fucks about a few hickeys and bruises from a good fuck. But again, this was a little different. Especially for him.

Tina snickered. "You mean you don't know?" She pulled out her phone and turned on the front facing camera before handing the device to Gavin. He flinched so hard he almost dropped it. His neck and collarbone were littered with bruises. It didn't help that he was wearing a 'V' neck shirt that did very little to hide the extent of the night's activities. His hair was a terrible case of bed head. His lips were still slightly swollen from the rough kisses that Christopher exchanged with him.

He should've gone home and changed. He should've taken the write up at being late over having to go through the day like this. Handing the phone back to Tina, Gavin ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to try and smooth it back to fix it. He knew it wasn't going to work but at least he tried damn it!

"So," she drew out, "I want the detes!"

"Nobody says that anymore, Tina." He turned back to his computer screen, trying to delve into his work.

He heard Tina scoff at him. "I'm not going away until you tell me," she protested heatedly.

At that, Gavin glared at her lightly. His eyes only left hers when he heard Richard take its seat at its desk. Gavin jumped out of his seat like it was on fire, briskly walking towards the break room. He couldn't face Richard. Not so soon. Not yet…maybe not ever. He should've said 'no.' And of course, Tina followed him. "I'm not gonna tell you," Gavin snapped at her as he moved to the coffee machine.

"What's going on?" A fellow officer asked from their spot at the small table in the break room. It sounded like officer Brown from the voice.

"Gavin got laid and won't tell me anything 'bout it," Tina immediately told, making Gavin feel like he had just been tattled on to the teacher. What the fuck?

He shot a glare over to the woman, who simply returned it with a determined gaze. Behind him, he heard Brown suck his teeth. "Come on Reed, you know Chen lives for this shit."

"Not helping." He turned back to the coffee. "And still not telling."

Much like he predicted, Tina would not leave him alone. When she was at the station, she was hovering. When she wasn't, his cell phone was blowing up with so many texts that he seriously considered turning it off for the day. Or for the week, until she lost interest. But then again, this was Tina they were talking about. She was about as stubborn as Gavin was. And frankly, this was not a battle of the wills he thought he could win.

She managed to catch him before he left for his lunch break. Not that he brought lunch to eat or anything. It was either order something or stepping out for him. He hadn't decided which yet. "Gavin," she sung his name.

He answered with a groan. "What do you want woman?" He turned in his chair to look up at her, seeing her holding a bag in one hand with a sinfully evil smirk on her lips.

"I got you something." He waited for the catch. "It's your favorite from that burrito place I can't stand."

He let out a deep sigh. He hadn't had anything from that place in forever. Just the thought of it was making his mouth water. So Tina was pulling low blows, playing dirty. She needed better hobbies. "You need to think of better ways to waste your free time," he grumbled but his eyes never left that bag. The smell was finally hitting his nose and it was slowly lowering his resolve. It wouldn't hurt if he told Tina right? Maybe she could help him not feel guilty? She was his good friend after all. " **Fine** ," he threw his head back with exasperation before righting himself to grab at the bag.

Tina let out a triumphant noise, pumping her fist. "Ha! Yes! Wait, my lunch is in there too." She moved to grab the bag back from Gavin, who lightly slapped her hand away.

"You don't even like the place!"

"I was there and hungry!" She defended as Gavin peeked into the bag.

"Go get some napkins," he told her.

"They didn't put any in!?"

"No they did." He pulled out the two napkins that were inside the bag. "Just not enough." There was also another reason why Gavin was sending her away. He didn't want to tell her, exactly, who it was. Instead, he wanted to text her while she was in the break room. Call him paranoid but he didn't want Connor and Richard to overhear them with their super android hearing. Richard had been good about keeping to itself all day today too. Considering they weren't on the best terms, it was probably for the better. And Connor had been out all day, so far, with Hank working cases. So avoiding the two hadn't been hard. Much to his delight.

Tina left for the breakroom, and Gavin fished out his phone. He started to type a reply to her a few times but couldn't exactly think of the words. So he settled on ' _Christopher, that android that came in to see me_ ' and hit send. He had just pulled out both burritos from the bag, setting Tina's aside for her when he heard it.

" **Gavin Reed you slut!** " His face turned bright red as he shot to his feet. He didn't need to look around to know that everyone in the precinct was staring at him from Tina's exclamation. He turned on his heel and started to practically jog towards the bathroom, when he ran right into Hank and Connor. Fucking great. Why was this his life? " **Stop him!** " Tina yelled after him.

Luckily Hank wanted nothing to do with what was going on, holding up his hands to show he wanted no involvement. Connor just looked confused as Gavin skirted around them to get to his destination.

"Hey Connor, guess what?" He heard from behind him, which immediately made him stop and turn around to glare daggers at Tina. She wouldn't dare!...Would she? That hesitation caused him to take off in an all out sprint in the short distance between him and Tina, who was standing next to Connor, now in the middle of the bullpen. He practically tackled her as his hand went to cover her fat mouth.

"Don't you  **fucking** dare," he hissed at her. He wasn't sure what she had said before he got there. He couldn't hear over his heartbeat pounding in his ears. "Ignore her," he said quickly as he glanced up at Connor who looked mortified. At what, he didn't know.

"Detective, I can assure you that whatever it is, it doesn't require you to tackle Officer Chen." Ever the negotiator.

"I assure you, it – egh! Did you lick me!?" Gavin pulled his hand away, wiping the wet streak on his palm that Tina had left there on her police jacket.

"Gavin fucked – " He replaced his hand back over her mouth before she could speak another word.

This was all going downhill fast. He wasn't sure what to do. If she told Connor, he was sure that he wouldn't be able to show his face in the station anymore. Hell, in Detroit. He'd have to move away to another city. No, State. Change his name. Change his occupation! "I doubt Connor wants to know what I do in my free time, Tina," he ground out, hoping that she'd pick up on the fucking hint he was dropping.

"Detective, are you alright?" He glanced up at Connor. "Your stress level is incredibly high right now."

"Don't fucking scan me," he bit out, worried that Connor would be able to just somehow know how he got his marks from scanning him. That's how it worked right? He'd scan something, then reconstruct it? The same thing that Richard did.

"Would you kids knock it off? This is a police station, not a playground," Hank interjected. "Who fucking cares who Reed banged? Nobody gives a shit." Somehow, that did not make Gavin feel better to hear.

He felt a sharp pain run through his hand suddenly, causing him to yelp as he let Tina go. "You bit me!" He accused, waving his hand in the air like that would get rid of the pain.

"You keep covering my mouth!" She defended. Both their hackles were raised now. There was no turning back.

"Maybe it's cause I don't want you sharing my personal life with everyone and their mother!" He snapped. He really hoped she'd fucking take the hint. "Don't you have work to do?" He questioned, knowing that it was their lunch hour. So no, no she didn't.

"Fuck you," she snapped back.

"Alright," Connor said suddenly, putting himself between Gavin and Tina. "Lieutenant Anderson is right. This is no place to be holding such arguments. Why don't we find somewhere else to have this conversation? Perhaps somewhere more private?"

"There's no conversation to be had!" Gavin suddenly boiled over. This was all just too much suddenly. "Fucking tell them, I don't give a shit anymore. God, you're such a bitch," Gavin snarled, clinging to that anger like it was a lifeline. He didn't know any better.

Tina tried to step closer, despite Connor being between the two of them. "Why's it such a big fucking deal to begin with? Everyone knows you're the station slut. You'll sleep with anybody.  **Anything**."

_Software Instability ^^^_

Gavin would've pounced had he not been held back by Connor. He bared his teeth at Tina, Connor's grip tight on his arms to ensure that he didn't attack a fellow officer.

"That's enough." A stern but firm voice demanded of them. It wasn't Fowler. He would've been screaming at them so loud that the walls of the station would've started shaking. No. Gavin looked over to see Richard standing there with its brow fixed with determination. Or maybe it was frustration. It was hard to tell. Wait…it didn't feel emotion. Just projected them. Whatever. "Detective, go outside. Have a smoke to calm down before coming back." Why the fuck was it ordering him around like he had done something wrong!?

"The fuck – " he started to argue before that icy stare was sent his way.

"Now, Detective." Gavin growled at it before storming out of the station. He really hated that Richard felt the need to order him around. It's not like he could do anything about it though. He couldn't fight Richard, physically or even mentally. How do you win against a highly advanced android? He was no tech head otherwise he might have a chance. But he wasn't. So he didn't. Fuck this.

He was standing in the parking garage, at his usual smoking spot but he wasn't indulging himself in his vice. There was a lit cigarette between his fingers, yes, but he had yet to take a single puff aside from the one he had to start the damn thing. He was too wrapped up in his thoughts. Now that he had some fresh air, stepped away from the situation, he could see a million different ways that could've gone differently. Gone better. But it didn't. Because Gavin was a fucking idiot. He knew it was his fault. Well, mostly. Tina was also partially to blame but still, he could've handled that better. He rubbed his face for like the tenth time since he got outside.

He was so tired all of a sudden. Drained, exhausted. That little bit had taken so much out of him. Now he just felt hurt. While he knew that Tina wasn't serious about her words, they still hurt. Believe it or not, he did have feelings. He just buried them for the most part. Emotions were messy. They fucked things up. Why on Earth did androids want to experience them so badly? Well they could have them, keep them. Gavin didn't want them.

The door opened with a click. It was rather heavy, it squeaking on its hinges as it opened. He dropped his cigarette, putting it out with his boot. "Look Tina – " He started as he turned his body to talk to her. Only, he blinked when he saw who was standing there instead. "And you're not Tina," he said dumbly when he was met with Connor instead of her.

"I am not. I thought it was best if we came to see you in her stead."

"We?" Richard appeared behind Connor, stoic as ever. It stood with its back straight, hands placed behind its back. Almost like it was Connor's bodyguard. That was rich. Gavin sucked his teeth. "Right…'we.'" Definitely not the ones he wanted to talk to right now. He was half expecting Hank to be standing there, since he and Connor went every where together. He was disappointed at first, then that quickly turned into apprehension. Why the fuck were the two of them out there with him? Suddenly he felt oddly cornered despite there being open space behind him. Only that lead to a concrete wall so technically, he was kind of cornered. That realization didn't make him feel any better. Worse in fact.

What really got him was how neither of them had said anything yet. They were just standing there, staring at him. Connor with his brown and Richard with its blue. It was like they were waiting for him to say something. Only he didn't know what to say. Like those fucked up dreams where you were standing in front of a group or class and had no idea what the fuck you were supposed to say. So it was just awkward, and unpleasant, and left a nauseating feeling in his stomach. It only added to his stress. Sooner or later, his fight or flight would kick in. He was sure of it.

Gavin rubbed the back of his neck, chewing on the inside of his cheek. He hated this. Fucking hated it. With ever fiber of his being. He opened his mouth to finally say something.

"I would appreciate it, Detective, if you'd answer my questions honestly."

Gavin's teeth clicked together when he closed his mouth. Well that was fucking straightforward. And the way he said it. Why did he feel like Connor was interrogating him? He didn't like this. Gavin slipped his hands into his pockets, staring directly at Connor with his brow furrowed with concern. "Okay," he said slowly, trying to mentally prepare himself for whatever question the android was going to ask him.

"Did you have sex with Christopher?" Even with the mental preparation, Gavin was still caught off guard by the bluntness of the question. He took a hand out of his pocket to gesture to his appearance. Like that was enough of an answer. "Your words, Detective."

Gavin's eyebrow shot up at the tone. Surely he was being interrogated. "Yes," he stated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which it was. His fucking neck was evidence of that.

"Did you take him up on his offer?"

Now he was confused. What offer? He cocked his head to the side slightly. "What are you asking?"

"Did you have sex with him as a form of repayment for helping the androids at Diamond Dust?"

Now he was just fucking offended. Was Connor really asking him what he thought he was asking him? "The  **fuck**  did you just ask me?" The anger was back again, full force and red hot.

"I can only rephrase the question so many times Detective," Connor deadpanned.

Gavin started to laugh. One of those disbelieving laughs, to show how fucking insane he found all of this. He rubbed his face with his hand again, stepping around in a semi-circle before rounding on Connor again. "Are you fucking serious right now?"

"I am."

Gavin snarled at him at that. "I did  **not**  convince him to sleep with me. He didn't need any convincing at all. I'll have you know that he came onto  **me** ," he threw at Connor, hoping that his words were portraying just how fucking angry he was at this line of questioning.

"Then why were you so intent on keeping Officer Chen from saying anything?" Connor sounded, and appeared, legitimately confused at that.

He threw his hands up in the air in frustration, walking in a small circle so he could move and not pounce on Connor. "Because I felt guilty!" He yelled at the android. "I was drinking and I wasn't thinking straight and didn't know if you thought of him as family or not! I fucked your brother basically and I felt  **bad**. I didn't want the whole 'break his heart Gavin Reed and I'll break your fucking face' conversation because I was too full of my shit to  **think**  about it and say 'no.'" He was gesturing wildly with his hands now, starting to pace in a line now as he rambled. He realized his was shaking, violently. And he didn't know if it was from rage or anxiety. The two were too closely tangled together right now. Fingers curled into fists, opened again, then curled again, repeatedly.

He stopped moving, putting a hand on his hip as he looked off to the side, wiping at his lips with his fingers, tugging at his lower lip for a second before letting out a disbelieving laugh again. It was weak though, even to his own ears. "I know I'm an asshole and you don't think highly of me, but do you really think that  **low**  of me?" He rounded on the android.

Connor looked hurt, guilty maybe. LED flashing red. Richard as stoic as ever. LED ever blue. "Detective – " he tried.

Gavin wouldn't let him. "No!" He yelled, stepping into Connor's personal space. "You don't get to ask me if I used my  **badge**  and  **raped**  someone, and then apologize for it! Consent is a fucking human decency – no a  **right**  and you can bet your ass I wouldn't have done anything if he wasn't interested!" He took a few steps back, running his hands through his tussled hair as he physically had to turn his back to Connor and put distance between them to not strike the android. "And to think I was feeling bad, guilty. Had I known that's what you would've thought, I wouldn't have worried about it. I wouldn't have  **bothered** ," he snarled over his shoulder.

He couldn't take this anymore. He just couldn't put up with it today. He turned on his heel, hands pushed deep into his pockets as he stalked passed the androids to just  **get away**  from them. He was strung like a bow string, just ready to snap. And he almost did, when Richard grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving. "Where are you going?"

Unlike before, Gavin was able to pull his arm away from the android. "Home. Fuck this. And fuck you two." He threw at them like he was cursing their entire family for generations to come. "I need to feed my fucking cat," he added as well, for good measure. He didn't know why he felt compelled to add that but he did. And they let him leave.

Once he was home, and Mister Ass was fed, Gavin sunk into the cushions and comfort of his couch. He had called Fowler to let him know he wasn't coming back in for the rest of the day. The man didn't even question it, actually admitting it was a good idea. Which meant that he was either told about or saw the little spat he and Tina had. Maybe Connor and Richard reported it. Fuck if he knew. Fuck if he cared. Mister Ass was curled up on his chest as he laid across the cushions, purring to offer some semblance of comfort to Gavin as he stroked the animal's fur. At least his cat liked him. Luckily it was Friday so he had the whole weekend to just decompress and try to get over how fucking hurt he felt over Connor's questioning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading chapter three of Red Blood, Red Ice. I am so sorry this took so long! I just was not having a good week. But I hope the length of this bad boy makes up for it! It just would not stop growing once I started. I didn't really have an idea if Christopher would top or bottom with Gavin, so I left that up to your guys' imagination! It's whatever you guys want! Haha!
> 
> Also! Zoetropez drew some fan art of Christopher! Go check it out athttps://zoetropez-art.tumblr.com/image/179144102426 Give them all the love! 
> 
> This chapter was a shit show. I know. I would apologize but I'm not sorry hahaha. We'll see how things progress after this!
> 
> If you'd like to keep up with my progress and updates, check out my tumblr: pennameab
> 
> See you in the next chapter!


	4. Innocence

Being pissed was becoming a constant in his life by now. So was giving people the silent treatment apparently. Tina and Connor were now on Gavin's shit list. Richard, not so much, but he was still getting the silent treatment. Over the weekend, Tina had shown up on his doorstep to apologize for throwing Gavin under the bus. Or, she would've apologized if Gavin had let her into his apartment. Instead, he ignored her calling from the other side of the door. Which probably made his neighbors hate him but did he care? Not really. Especially considering that he let them get away with god awful noises late into the night when he was working. So fuck them. Pay back was a bitch.

The banging on his door had caused Mister Ass to lose his shit a bit. The cat had taken to hiding under his bed until Tina went away, after she finally got the fucking hint. She didn't seem to be good at picking up on those. That was something they could work on. Maybe. If Gavin ever forgave her. When she hadn't been at his doorstep, Tina had repeatedly sent her apologies over text message. Again, he promptly ignored her. He realized he was probably being petty midday Sunday. But damn it, Gavin could be a petty bitch if he wanted to be. That whole situation could've been avoided if she just fucking respected his privacy. So, in his mind, she deserved this and so much more. She was lucky he was just ignoring her.

Connor hadn't been so insistent with his apologies. The android had managed to catch Gavin alone a few times. Those few times Gavin ignored him, sometimes shoulder checking him, before the detective went on his way. So Connor just gave the man his space. If the two were in the break room, Connor either excused himself or Gavin just flat out ignored his existence. If Connor needed something, he went to Richard instead of him. Which, honestly, Gavin was grateful for.

Tension was incredibly high within the precinct, however. So dense that you could probably cut it with a knife. The other officers were just waiting for something to happen. It was the calm before the storm. And Gavin was right smack in the center of it. So while he was busy ignoring and avoided Tina, Connor, and Richard; everyone else was busy avoiding  **him**. Like they were scared that they'd be subject to the extent of his rage or something. Gavin was not a ticking time bomb threatening to blow…Okay, maybe he was. But this was different. Different in the sense that he did nothing wrong and everyone else were the ones that were responsible. For the most part. Alright, so he did everything wrong and it was all his fault. But fuck if he knew how to fix it. Besides, it's not like the other officers didn't already make up excuses to avoid him. He knew he wasn't liked in the precinct. Pretty much hated in fact. So if everyone was standing a foot further away from him than they usually did, it wasn't any different than how they usually treated him.

Another day of avoiding and being avoided. He didn't know why, but for some reason, it was damn near exhausting to be at work now. He'd go to bed tired, wake up tired, and go to work only to come back from his shift feeling worse than when he went in. He might be getting sick or something. It was already December, snow filling the streets of Detroit with icy winds that cut through even the best of winter coats. 'Twas the season for colds and flues to run rampant. Usually he was good about not getting sick though. Gavin made sure to get his flu shot every year. He had gotten it once. Fucking hated it. Did not want a repeat of it, thank you very much.

He had just gotten done with a rather hot and steamy shower. Mister Ass was happily fed, laying over one of the heating vents in the apartment because 'cat.' That's what they did. Gavin was towel drying his hair, having just slipped into sweat pants when his phone had started to ring. He hefted a big sigh as he went over to answer it, already knowing who it was before he even looked at the damned thing.

"Just send me the address, I'll be there," he answered, already moving into his bedroom to change back into jeans.

"Anderson and Connor will be meeting you there. Try to play nice," Fowler said gruffly before ending the call. At least his boss had warned him. But why was Hank being sent as well? Must've been real bad then. Gavin hurriedly slipped on the first thing he could find, a long sleeved shirt and the jeans he had worn that day, and made his way out of his apartment to his car.

The house already had two police cars out front, red and blue lights flashing against the white snow of the yard. Yellow holographic tape separated the house from the rest of the neighborhood, like it would somehow protect everyone else from whatever horrors that laid beyond that front door. The yellow hue from the tape did not mingle well with the red and blue from the cars. Gavin stepped out of his car, immediately regretting not putting on a warmer shirt. It was starting to snow again, having started halfway enroute to the crime scene. His hair was still wet, not soaking but definitely damp. He wished he also threw on a beanie or something. He had not thought this through when he scurried out of his apartment. He burrowed his chin into his scarf and jacket, trying to keep as warm as possible given the situation.

Richard was standing beside the door, because of course it had gotten there first. Chris was standing beside it, appearing to be conversing with the android. Most likely about the case. Or his kid. Wasn't he a year old by now? Poor Chris, having to entertain Richard though. Well lucky for him, Gavin was to the rescue. The detective walked right up to the two, causing Chris to stop midsentence to look over to him. "Reed," He greeted with a nod.

"Miller."

"Bad timing huh? I was just about to sit down and eat with the family." Gavin hummed absently at the admition. "Speaking of which, have you eaten yet?"

Gavin cocked an eyebrow at him. "No?"

Chris nodded his head. "That's probably for the best." He then led them inside.

He was quite happy he hadn't eaten yet. In the dining room, the hardwood flooring was soaked with blood. The smell alone from the sheer amount of it made Gavin gag slightly. He tried to pull his scarf over his mouth and nose to help dilute the smell. It did not help. The table was turned over, shattered plates and glasses decorating the floor through the blood. Like a fucked up rendition of the sky and it's constellations. The table was turned in such a way that all he could see from the entrance of the room was a lone hand and wrist poking out from behind it. Very classical murder/mystery movie style. Only, the worse he had yet to see until he had stepped into the room to see the body that was hidden by the table. He let go of his scarf to put his hand over his mouth, immediately having to fight the urge the vomit. "Fucking Christ," he mumbled into his palm.

The hand and wrist had belonged to a woman, but they were attached to the body of a man. He lay there with his head down. Or, it should have been face down in the blood, had his neck not been snapped to be facing the complete opposite of what it should've been. Chest against the blood soaked floor, Gavin couldn't help but note that his head wasn't the only thing facing the wrong way. One leg was twisted at such an angle that his foot was sticking up when it should not have been. His other leg was just missing. Like it was crudely ripped from his body, the fraying of his pants hiding the torn muscle, ligaments, and vessels that most likely dangled from the wound. He stepped even closer, swallowing hard as his eyes took in every detail carefully. Now that he was closer, he could see that the arm was attached to the body with thread. Like someone had tried to sew the hand and wrist that had been ripped off at the elbow back to this body. And his leg wasn't bent at an odd angle. Much like the arm, it was sewn onto the body backwards. Only, it wasn't his leg. The skin color didn't match. Petite and slim, like the wrist. It was a female leg. Before he could crouch by the body to examine it more, Chris stepped beside him.

"It gets worse," Chris warned him as he gestured to the kitchen that was right beside the dining room. Gavin turned to look, immediately having to look away. A woman was against the far cabinets, in front of the sink with her back to the wood. Blood soaked her shirt and skirt, much like the man. The only difference was that her chest was open. Intestines spilled in her lap, a few ribs being shown the light of day when they shouldn't be. Chunks of skin were missing from her chest, exposing more of her ribs, like something or someone had literally tried to claw their way into her chest.

Once he had taken a few practiced breathes, he looked back at the body. Both of her legs were missing. One was accounted for. But he couldn't catch sight of the other. Instead, in the middle of the blood in the kitchen was the man's original leg that the woman's replaced. Her arm was missing, replaced by the man's in a similar fashion. Only not as tightly sewn together. Whereas the man's new arm was pressed flush against the woman's, her new arm was dangling from varying lengths of thread. Like the person hadn't finished the job. Like someone was trying to make pieces of two puzzles fit together then they didn't. That wasn't even the worse of it though. Her neck looked like it had been torn into at one side. All the way passed the bone as her head was resting against her shoulder. The only thing that kept her head attached to the body was the muscle and skin that had yet to be torn apart. A brown head of hair just laid limply off to the side, in front of her shoulder in a way that it just shouldn't be.

And there was blood everywhere in the kitchen. The white title under his feet was stained red and pink from the sheer amount of it. On the walls from spraying, as handprints, and other impressions. The smell was overwhelming; not even breathing through his mouth helped. He could taste the iron in the air. He became lightheaded, stomach rolling at the taste that lingered on his tongue. It was like he wasn't breathing in any air at all, only blood. He felt ill.

"Detective," Richard was suddenly in front of him, blocking his view of the woman. "You appear ill, perhaps you should step outside for a moment," it suggested. Gavin just stared at the blue triangle of its white and black jacket as he tried to fight the waves of sickness that were passing over him. He had seen a lot of horrible things with this job. But this was something you just didn't get used to.

A hand on his shoulder caused his gaze to snap up to Richard's. "You're incredibly pale, Detective. I must insist that you take a moment to get some fresh air." Gavin swallowed hard, quickly nodding his head before he turned on his heel and made his way outside.

Being outside just didn't help, even with the crisp, sharp smell of a cold winter night. The smell of iron was still in his nose. The taste lingered on his tongue. It left him no choice but to light up a cigarette just to flood his system with another taste and smell. He was only just barely starting to feel better when he turned towards Hank's car. He heard it more than saw it as it pulled up to crime scene. It was always easy to tell when the Lieutenant rolled up anywhere. That noise that he always claimed was good music was a good indicator if there ever was one, blasting in the speakers of the car and leaking into the outside world where it wasn't wanted. It didn't take long before the old model came to a stop, as well as the music. Hank with the ever present Connor stepped out of the vehicle. It didn't take long for them to approach him. He was standing on the outside of the police tape. He had to if he wanted to smoke; the whole contaminating a scene and all that bullshit.

Hank looked more suited for the cold night than Gavin was. And Connor was wearing his usual Cyberlife jacket. He would question it if he didn't know that androids didn't feel cold like humans did. Their fingers didn't go numb from the cold like Gavin's were right now. The wind didn't bite at their faces and make their noses red like Gavin's was. Long story short, Gavin was miserable in the cold. He really should've put on better clothing. He gave a nod of greeting to Hank. When he passed his gaze over to Connor, the android refused to meet his eyes. Instead he casted his gaze to the ground. Good. It pleased Gavin, more than it probably should have, that Connor was still feeling guilty over the accusations. As he should. Fucker deserved it.

"Lil' early to be slackin' on the job, isn't it?" Hank questioned instead of returning Gavin's nodded greeting.

Gavin shrugged. "With Robocop in there, don't know why the fuck I'm here," he grumbled, obviously unhappy. But not for the reasons that Hank was probably thinking.

Hank huffed at him with an eye roll as he moved to walk away from Gavin. The detective brought a hand up to grab his arm to stop him though. He received an eyeroll from the older man, who also waved at Connor to go on without him.

"You eat yet?"

Both eyebrows shot up at that question. "No…We were in the middle of making dinner when I got the call. Why?"

Gavin immediately thought it was strange that Connor would be making dinner with Hank, but whatever. If they wanted to play happy little family outside of work, good for them. Gavin didn't give a shit. "Might not wanna go in there then. It's pretty bad."

Hank pulled his arm from the detective's hold at that. "I've seen my fair share of fucked up shit. I think I'm good." Oh well, no skin off his teeth. He just shrugged at the older man, going back to his cigarette. It either bothered Hank or it wouldn't. But at least he couldn't say that Gavin didn't warn him about it first.

Gavin just about finished his first cigarette when he noticed someone come back out from the house to join him outside. He only had to listen to the huff of breath and shuffling of clothes to know it was Hank. Without a word, Gavin dropped the cigarette onto the ground and stepped on it to put it out. "Told ya," he said was he pulled out another cigarette to light up.

"Yeah, yeah. Should've listened. Mind letting me bum one of those off of ya?"

The detective paused in lighting the cigarette between his lips to stare at Hank questioningly. "Didn't you quit?"

Hank nodded. "Yeah, but that stench was just  **awful**." Gavin couldn't help but hum in agreement. Since he was feeling oddly generous, and didn't mind the company so he wasn't outside freezing his ass off alone, he held the pack out to Hank for him to take one. "Thanks. Just don't tell Connor." After Gavin lit his, Hank took the lighter to light his own.

Gavin couldn't help but snort at the man. "Oh, I'll try to refrain on our next lunch date." The two were then smoking outside together. Well it was more like Gavin was smoking. Hank took one puff as just held it between his lips for a few moments. Not that he was one to tell anybody how to smoke but he couldn't help but be irritated that Hank was letting a smoke go to waste. He should've said no.

He then pulled the cigarette away from his mouth after taking a small puff in with a breath. "He is sorry," he said as he exhaled.

Gavin simply hummed around his own cigarette. "And?" Honestly, he didn't know why Hank thought he cared. He didn't.

"Well he'd tell you himself if you'd let him. Since you won't," he paused to take a short puff, "thought it might help hearing it from me." It didn't. Gavin just flicked the ash that was collecting at the tip, watching it fall and mingle with the snow on the ground. There was a moment's pause. Then another. "He was just doing his job."

"The fuck he was," Gavin snapped. He glared over at Hank, who easily met his eyes with a determined look.

"Come on Reed, you know you would've done the same thing if it was someone else! You were acting all sorts of strange, all twitchy. It was suspicious! And instead of assuming one way or the other, Connor did the smart thing, what any  **good**  cop would do, and asked you about it."

Gavin growled. "He thought I raped someone! How would you feel if you were accused of that!?" He rounded on the other man, bringing his cigarette up to his lips to pull in a long, tense drag. He didn't need this right now. What had he done to deserve this kind of treatment? Honestly? What god or deity did Gavin piss off?

Hank stared him down, not backing down from Gavin's challenge or anger. He had done this dance before. He knew how it went. "Better him asking than treating you like one." He would've rather Hank just smacked or punched him, with how heavy the weight of that statement hit him. It knocked the air out of his lungs, the smoke burning painfully as he sputtered. "He went to you, Reed. He asked  **you**  first. He could've gone to Christopher, behind your back. Or he could've just assumed the worst and treated you like a rapist. But he didn't. He let you tell your side of the story." He was making it sound like Connor was doing him a fucking favor. Had done him the courtesy of letting him prove that he wasn't a piece of shit like the people they put away.

"I could've lied," he sneered.

Hank just let that one hang in the air with a look that read 'really kid?' He knew it well. Gavin had received it quite often before he hit detective. Hell, he was still receiving it apparently. But the fact remained, he could've lied. But Connor would've known in an instant. Despite all that, it did little to make Gavin feel better. Hank dropped the cigarette, only two thirds of the way done, and stomped it out under his toe. "I've said my peace. You do whatever the hell you want with it." He didn't even wait for Gavin to respond, just turned on his heel and walked right back inside.

The detective swore after the old man, finishing his cigarette before marching back inside. He had work to do after all. And he was freezing his ass off.

"Who called it in?" Gavin asked as soon as the wonder twins had gotten done with their evaluation of the crime scene. He made sure not to look too hard at the bodies, lest he found himself outside again. His appetite was definitely ruined for the night. Maybe the entire week, possibly the whole month.

"Records indicate two calls were made from the home. One from Mrs. Kent that was quickly ended shortly after connecting. A second was made roughly seven minutes later from, what sounded like, a child," Richard was quick to answer, monotone and disinterested.

"Hold up!" Gavin immediately latched onto that. "A  **kid**  made the call and nobody thought to fucking look for 'em!?" How the fuck did the responding officers miss that?

"Dispatch searched the house, couldn't find anybody else," Chris was the one to answer this one.

Gavin glared at him. "Did they look hard enough? You can't fucking tell me that a kid called nine-one-one and didn't stick around!" Before anybody could respond, he ran through the house to the other side of it, where the bedrooms were located. He tore through the bedrooms like a storm, searching desperately for any sign of the kid that was most likely the prime witness in what happened to Mr. and Mrs. Kent. He honestly didn't know if the other officers were helping or not. He didn't care. He was a man on a mission. And he'd be damned if he didn't accomplish it.

He had almost given up hope too, until a quick scan of the bathroom told him otherwise. Under the sink of the master bathroom, he caught a glimpse of what he thought was fabric peeking from inside. Unease welled in his stomach, almost as powerful as that stench that caused him to go outside. Taking a deep breath, he braced himself as he stepped inside the room. He dropped to his knees and opened the cabinet.

Screeching immediately erupted from inside, being emitted from a little girl who was just doused in blood. Gavin threw his hands up in a surrender position, hunching down to make himself appear smaller than he actually was.

"Hey, hey, hey," he tried softly. "I'm not here to hurt ya. You're okay. You're safe. I'm a police officer. I'm here to help." He kept going through similar phrases, not once raising his voice or moving an inch as she slowly stopped screeching. Bright blue eyes stared back at him, welled with massive tears that streaked down her bloodstained cheeks. Her skirt was ruined. She tore and pressed and rubbed her hands at the hem of it; smearing, grinding the blood into the fabric.

He could barely make out someone standing at the entrance of the bathroom, most likely drawn by the screaming. Not that he blamed him. Poor girl sounded like Gavin was murdering her. Her body shook violently with trembled, her lower lip quivering in and out of her mouth as she took labored breaths.

"My name is Gavin. What's yours?" He tried.

"E – E – Emma," she said around her breaths.

"Okay Emma, I'm gonna grab my badge okay, to show you that I'm who I say I am. Is that okay?" She looked hesitant before nodding her head. Slowly, very slowly, Gavin dropped one hand to his belt and pulled his badge from where it was clipped onto it. From how he was crouching, it had been hidden between his hip and the meat of his thigh. He brought it up and offered it to her for her to inspect. She just glanced at it momentarily before more tears escaped her eyes.

"A – are you h – h – here to take me – me away?"

Gavin slipped his badge into his jacket's pocket, not wanting to risk any big movements. He nodded his head. "I'm going to take you some place safe okay? You don't have to be afraid." He offered his hand out to her to take. "Can't be too comfortable down there. Don't you wanna stretch your legs?"

She sniffled, wiping her cheeks and nose with her hands, effectively smearing blood, tears, and snot all over her face. She then nodded, taking his hand slowly as he helped her clamber out of the cabinet. Now that she was standing, he could see that she was wearing a dress that looked like her pajamas.

"There we go, that's it. Much better right? Not as cramped," he said, despite remaining in a couched position. His legs were killing him. He glanced over to see Hank, Connor, and Richard all standing there watching him with the little girl. "These are my friends. They're also police officers. Why don't you go with them for a lil' bit?"

She gave a hesitant look up at the three standing in the doorway. Her blue eyes seemed to narrow in on Hank though. "I like your hair," she said softly around her shaky sobs.

Hank chuckled a bit, offering his hand out to her to take. "Thank you. I like your pjs." She took his hand, letting go of Gavin's. Both androids stepped aside to let the older man lead her out of the bathroom, and out of the house ultimately. She didn't need to stay there. Not after everything that she had been through.

Now Gavin was left with both androids. Great, just great. He had to brace his hands on the countertop and heft himself up. His legs immediately started tingling after being crouched for so long. His left knee popped loudly, painfully. "Ow," he sang, leaning against the counter for a moment to let the pain pass.

"Detective?" Connor pipped in, obviously concerned.

"I'm good," Gavin's voice was strained, as he flexed his leg a bit. He bent it back and straightened it, before doing it one more time. When he was sure that his knee wasn't going to back talk him anymore, he moved to walk out of the bathroom, slightly limping as feeling returned back to his toes.

"Detective," Connor voiced once more. Which was honestly the most he's talked to Gavin in days. Gavin simply regarded him with a glance as he walked passed. Instead, he grumbled about how responding officers couldn't do their jobs, how they might not have found her at all had Gavin not taken it upon himself to look. "It was not for lack of trying on their part." He felt the need to add commentary to Gavin's mumbled breaths.

"Oh? And what makes you say that?" This ought to be good.

"She could've easily eluded the officers."

"How? She's just a kid?"

Connor cocked his head to the side slightly. "The responding officers were human. And she's an android."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading chapter four of Red Blood, Red Ice. I really appreciate everyone's patience with me on writing this. A lot has just been going on and I haven't had a chance to sit down and actually write this chapter in a while. I do hope it was worth the wait. It's not as long as I was expecting so I apologize for the lack of length on this guy. But sweet baby Jesus and all things holy was it difficult for me the write. I don't even know why. It just was. Hopefully I'll have an easier time with the chapters coming up.
> 
> Originally I was going to have Emma holding onto one of her parents' missing legs but I decided against it. It just didn't fit right into how I was writing the chapter. This was also my attempt as suspense/spooky shit - a messed up case - but I'm not sure how it turned out. Let me know what you think, and any areas you can think of on how to improve it. I live for suspense/spooky stuff, I just can't write it very well.
> 
> As always, if you'd like to keep up with my updates and progress, check out my tumblr: pennameab
> 
> And I will see you guys in the next chapter!


	5. Forgiveness

Ultimately, the case was given to another officer. With Hank and Connor working on a big Red Ice bust; Gavin and Richard working on the rising amount of break – ins and thirium theft, Fowler thought it better to hand it to someone else. Not that Gavin was complaining. That crime scene was enough to haunt his dreams at night so he was happy to not have to review those photos for extensive periods of time. Plus, with an android child in the mix, he wasn't exactly sure how that was handled. He really needed to brush up on his protocols for such a thing. He was feeling oddly inadequate. Still, it not being his case didn't mean he wasn't curious about it and wanted to know how it turned out. Cases that bad tended to stick out like a flag in his mind. And Gavin was naturally curious.

Any chance he got, the detective would pull up the case file and follow the reports on it. It was a lot of legal mumbo jumbo; he actually didn't pay too much attention to that. But the officer followed up with asking the android what she could tell him about the case. Emma couldn't recall much. Talking with the neighbors gave no leads. The last time he checked, he noticed that the officer was waiting for approval for the android's legal guardian, Mrs. Kent's sister, to sign off on them accessing her memories. He didn't know how long that would take so Gavin didn't check the reports for a day or so.

When he finally did check again, he was absolutely floored by the officer's findings. "That's a load of horse shit!" He yelled at his screen, causing nearby officers to stare at him.

"Detective?" Richard questioned from its seat at its desk. Gavin didn't pay any attention to it as he stood up from his chair, actively looking for the officer who handled the case. Fucker was lucky he wasn't around. So when Gavin couldn't locate the man, he did the next best thing and bolt down to the evidence locker. He had to see this himself.

When he let himself into the room, he vaguely paid any attention to the officer who was looking through the database. "Out!" He ordered, already putting in the case file number in the main console. The officer left, albeit grumbling under their breath. Most likely about him but he didn't give two shits about that. Once that officer was gone, Gavin made sure to cloud the glass around him before diving into the evidence.

Looking at photos of the crime scene was difficult, so he mainly focused on the ME's report. Cause of death wasn't surprising to him. Mrs. Kent died of blood loss while Mr. Kent actually died from a heart attack; which was most likely caused from the forced removal of his arm. The arm went first, then both legs. The limbs were removed before Mrs. Kent had been attacked. There was no question that whoever attacked Mr. and Mrs. Kent was an android. The time frame of how quickly the limbs were removed and both Kents were killed pointed out that much. He just didn't believe the officer found the right suspect. There was no way.

He was just about to pull up the video that was Emma's memories of that night when he heard the door open behind him. "That is not our case, Detective." Go figure, he should've known.

"Fuck off trash can," he bit out. He pressed play on the video, leaning against the console with his hands on the screen to watch. It started off with Emma in her bedroom, having just changed into her pajamas when a hand came from the side and stopped the video from continuing. Gavin immediately tried to push the hand away from the screen but it wouldn't budge. He looked to his right, glaring up at Richard as the android stared at him with its usual expression. "Move it," he demanded.

"This is not our case," it tried again, hand not moving.

"I heard you the first time," he growled, grabbing the thing's wrist to try and shove it away from the screen again. It wouldn't budge. Instead, Richard flipped his hand to grab Gavin's own so that they were holding each other's. Gavin immediately let go when he realized his own wrist was being held.

"I advise that we get back to our own cases, Detective."

"Nah uh, not happening," He snapped as he tried to remove Richard's hand from his wrist. It wasn't painful; a firm grip instead. But he didn't like it. But he couldn't get the thing to let him go. It's grip was sturdy, that was for sure. Fucking androids.

As Gavin struggled to get the hold off his wrist, Richard tried to pull him away from the panel. The detective dug his heels into the ground, trying to resist as much as he could. "It is a closed case. The suspect has been located, there is nothing else to review," Richard insisted.

Gavin couldn't help but snort at that. "Like fuck it's been! Have you even looked at the file?"

Richard stopped trying to drag Gavin away by his wrist, instead turning back to face him with a dead expression. "There's no need. It is closed." It was like the damn thing thought that repeating those words would get him to give in. Well, Gavin wasn't one to roll over and show his belly. It was bullshit and if Richard didn't believe him then fuck it.

"It's wrong!" He declared with the certainty of…well he wasn't sure. But he was pretty damn sure that the reports were wrong.

The android blinked slowly at him. "Why do you think so?" It would not let go of his wrist. Why did this thing like touching him so much!? It was fucking annoying.

The detective gave him a hard look. "There's no way that she did it."

Richard cocked its head to the side. It let go of Gavin's wrist to place its hand on the surface of the panel. Skin peeled back to reveal the plastic underneath as it interfaced with it. It only took a second, just long enough for Gavin to blink before Richard removed its hand from the surface, skin covering the white once again. "Unfortunately, your assumption is incorrect."

"Bull shit!" Gavin snapped back.

"The correct suspect has been apprehended."

"There's no way Emma killed her parents!" He yelled.

The door to the evidence room opened and both Richard and Gavin looked over to see who it was. A very confused but concerned – how did he always have that fucking look on his face? – looking Connor stood in the door, staring between the two. "Is everything alright?"

"The fuck you want?" Gavin questioned instead of answering the question.

"I heard yelling. I was worried," Connor responded easily, stepping into the room and closed the door behind him. Great, now he was stuck in the evidence room, windows whited out, with both androids. Gavin hated life.

"Yeah well, you were worried for nothing, Richard was just leaving." Gavin glared up at it. It didn't move, just stared back down at him with its usual expression. He then waved at it with both hands in a 'go away' motion. "Get a move on then! Scoot, scram, skedaddle!"

And to nobody's surprise, Richard didn't move a muscle. "I refuse to allow you to waste time on a closed case." Why did he get stuck with such a stubborn ass android?

Gavin glared even harder, scowl deep on his face. "I don't remember you having a say in what I do with my fucking time."

"What's the problem? Perhaps I can help." Connor, ever the helpful little…whatever the fuck he was. Android, deviant, person. Anderson's little pet.

"Fuck off – " before he could finish, Richard cut him off.

"Detective Reed believes that there was a mistake in capturing Mr. and Mrs. Kent's killer." Gavin puffed up, arms crossed over his chest.

Instead of saying anything, Connor came over to them, doing what Richard did to interface with the terminal. Gavin had to take a few steps back and away from him, just because he didn't want Connor too close. Being sandwiched between two androids just did not seem like a good idea. Connor interfaced a little longer than Richard, about five seconds before the skin covered the white of his hand again. Brown eyes immediately found Gavin who was standing off to the side. "No error has been made."

Gavin ran both hands through his hair in frustration. "What the fuck is wrong with you two!? There is no way in hell Emma killed her parents! No fucking way!"

"While it may be hard to believe, it is the truth, Detective," Connor tried with a soft tone of voice.

"She's just a kid!"

"She's an android," Richard pointed out, rather harshly from the suddenness of its input. "While it may be hard to believe for a human child, Emma is an android. She is more than capable of harming a human adult."

Gavin rubbed his face with his hands as he groaned. He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't. He then removed his hands from his face, pressing them together in a prayer position as he rested the sides of his index fingers against his lips. "Okay, fine," He ground out. "But that doesn't explain what caused her to flip shit to begin with." The androids exchanged a look. "Yeah, see. You don't even know." He was probably a little snarkier than he intended but fuck it. He noticed something that the two androids didn't. He had a right to be proud.

"I fail to see how that matters for the case," Richard quipped as it returned it's gaze to Gavin, who was still giving the two androids their space.

"'Fail to see' – are you seriously that fucking dense?"

"Detective – " Connor tried to interject.

"Oh no," Gavin pointed at Connor. "You don't get a fucking say. Why are you still here anyway?"

Connor gave him a casual shrug. "I do have to review some evidence from a crime scene." Gavin threw his hands up in defeat as he turned his attention to the ceiling. Figures. "Why do you think there's an error in the case?" That brought his attention back to the two sharing the room with him.

He shoved his hands into his pockets as he toed the ground with his toe of his shoe. "Doesn't feel right," He grumbled as an answer. Connor cocked his head to the side at that. He was going to ask him what he meant by that. Gavin just knew it.

"What do you mean?" Dear god he was psychic.

Gavin took a hand out of his pocket to rub at his nose a bit, right along the scar. "Well…report says there was no cause. Typically people need a reason to kill. A trigger. There was none. I  **was**  going to check out her memories before Richard here decided to be an ass." He put his hand back into his pocket. Connor appeared to be thinking, if the yellow LED meant anything. He was even looking at the ground with his arms crossed, a very human thing to do. It unnerved Gavin a bit. Okay, maybe more than a bit.

"Since she is a child model, her programming resembles that of a child. Her memories were very chaotic due to the trauma of the event," Connor said, almost like he was reading directions from a manual.

Gavin shrugged. "So?"

"So while we could not locate a cause, a trigger as you called it, it does not mean there wasn't one. It simply was not logged as part of the trauma," Richard finished, sounding bored of the conversation already.

The detective contemplated that, chewing on his lower lip in thought.

_Software Instability ^^^_

It then occurred to Gavin. "She wasn't deviant," he blurted out suddenly. He remembered that coming up at some point in the reports. Emma hadn't deviated after the revolution.

"She was not deviant before the killings took place, that is correct," Richard confirmed with a short nod.

Gavin shook his head as he waved his hands a bit. "No, no, that's not what I meant. Isn't it that if an android doesn't accept the deviant virus or whatever the fuck it is, something has to stress them out to the point of deviating themselves?" Both Connor and, surprisingly, Richard looked shocked that he knew that. "Yeah," He snapped. "I pay attention."

_Software Instability ^^^_

Connor nodded his head, being the first to recover. "Yes, that's right."

"So what the fuck happened between her changing into her pjs and the murders?"

Both androids' LEDs turned yellow as soon as his question was asked. Probably reviewing Emma's memories. Richard's turned back to blue while Connor's remained yellow. "Nothing," They said in unison. Which was like something out of a horror movie. It immediately caused Gavin's skin to crawl, hair on the back of his neck standing on end.

"Don't do that again, fucking creepy ass androids," he rubbed the back of his neck as he shuffled on his feet. "Anyway," he insisted on, not looking at the two in the room now. "There can't be nothing. Right? Deviancy itself is caused by a traumatic event, right?"

Connor nodded. "Her coding changed without prompt. It…doesn't happen like that," He said slowly, LED still yellow as he contemplated what that meant. Which couldn't be good. It did not bode well if an android's coding changed within an instant and caused them to turn into murderers. Not well at all.

Ultimately there wasn't much he could do now with the case closed. Without evidence to prove that it wasn't Emma who killed her parents, which video proof through her own eyes was kind of hard to beat, Gavin's hands were tied. But that didn't mean he liked it. It didn't mean he accepted it. It just didn't sit well with him. So it was another case that caused him to lay awake at night, just mulling over the details. There had to be something that they missed. There had to be.

It was lunch time, which meant break time. Gavin was the last of the officers to take leave for lunch so all that was left in the station were the relief staff. Hank and Connor left hours ago. And he hadn't seen Richard for quite some time. He wasn't too sure how long exactly; he didn't keep track of the damned thing whenever it left. Even the Captain had stepped out to grab some food. So Gavin was on his own when he moved to the front of the precinct to exit the building to start his own break. Dear god did he feel like he needed one too.

He was only a few feet away from the main entrance when a figure came barreling through it. Nearly knocked Gavin right on his ass too. "Hey, watch it!" He snapped as he regained his balance.

The person zeroed right in on Gavin. It was then that he noticed that the man was carrying someone, a woman – no android – bridal style. And she was bleeding. Profusely. "Are you an officer!? We need help! She needs help!" The man insisted as he approached Gavin, right up into his personal space.

Two things ran through Gavin's brain. First, there went his lunch break. Second, he didn't know the first fucking thing about helping a bleeding android! What the fuck was he supposed to do!? But he noticed that she had several gashes through her frame, including one in the side of her neck, close to where her collarbone was that was just oozing blue blood at an alarming rate. If that was bad for humans, it had to be bad for androids. Right? So without really thinking, he immediately stepped closer to apply pressure to the wound. He tried to recall all he learned from his first aid classes. But would they help for an android? He just didn't know. But he'd be damned if he didn't try. "Shit," he hissed as the blue blood bled through his fingers, the pressure not doing anything to stop the flow.

"Get her to the back," he ordered the android as he turned to face the receptionist. Who was staring at him in shock, hands over her mouth. She was frozen in place. It was odd to see an android show symptoms of shock. But now was not the time for that! "Call for help. Get Connor or Richard or  **someone**  who can help," he instructed as he followed behind the man who took the woman back into the bullpen. Once he was there, he tried to find a surface for her to be placed upon. Before he could, the man collapsed, dropping the android onto the floor with a heavy thud. "Fuck!" He rushed over, dropping to a knee. "Are you – " He tried to ask, only to be pushed away rather roughly.

"Help her!" The man cried. So Gavin did just that, he scooted over to her, rolling her limp body onto her back. It was difficult but he managed to do it. He hadn't realized just how fucking heavy androids were. How was that man carrying her?

Time for that later, Reed; he scolded himself before he took off his scarf and pressed it against the wound on her neck to try and stop the bleeding again. Now that he was closer and could see her form better, it looked like stab wounds littered her chest. He knew very little about android anatomy but from what he could tell, none had hit her pump regulator. Maybe. He wasn't too sure. There was blue blood everywhere.

The bleeding wouldn't stop. The wounds on her chest were oozing as well. He looked around the bullpen for an extra pair of hands. "I need help over here!" He yelled out, hoping that  **someone**  was around to help. Two sets of hands were offered.

"I don't know what to do," one of the officers admitted.

"I don't either, just try to put pressure on the wounds to stop the bleeding." It was really all they could do. Try to buy her time so that someone who knew what they were doing could help. The two did just that. But there were more wounds than hands unfortunately.

"Detective!" He heard behind him after what felt like an eternity.

"About time!" He snapped. "Took your sweet ass time didn't ya?" Now was probably not the time to be snipping at anybody but he was anxious and worried and didn't know what else to do. He felt useless, even if his blue blood-soaked scarf was probably helping the android.

He felt Connor's hand on his shoulder before he crouched down next to him. "I need you to let go." How was he so calm during all of this!? Gavin was pretty sure he was shaking.

Everything in his brain was telling him that was a bad idea. You always kept pressure on a wound. You never removed the gauze or fabric or whatever you used from the wound because it could remove any clotting that may have occurred. His brain just kept running through his first aid classes over and over again. "I can't," he said shaking his head.

"I can't fix what's wrong unless you let go," Connor tried to reason with him.

"But – " He tried to argue but a hand, clean and pale covered his blue stained ones. He looked over to Connor.

"It's alright, Detective." So he let go and backed off. He got back to his feet, giving Connor space to work. His stomach churned uneasily as he looked at his hands. Stained blue. Somehow it wasn't any easier than when they were stained red.

He was shaking even more now that he was on his feet. He looked for something to do, anyway he could help when Connor moved to pick the android up. "What are you doing?" You never moved an injured person without the proper equipment!

"I need to take her to interrogation. Richard's set it up with what we have so we can work on her," he explained as he stood to his full height easily. Whereas Gavin had struggled to roll her onto her back, Connor was able to lift her like she weighed nothing.

He nodded his head, moving to follow Connor when he saw another approach them briskly. "I came as soon as I could," Christopher said, looking disheveled as could be. How could an android that didn't breathe sound so breathless?

"Christopher, what happened?" Gavin immediately asked, noticing that the android was bleeding as well, but just from a shallow cut on his forearm.

The brunet shook his head as he tried to catch his breath. "I – I don't know. One second everything was fine and then the next he was attacking her!"

That didn't make any sense. Why would the man that brought her in attack her? Maybe he was guilty? "Wait, who?"

"Kevin," He shook his head again. "He was crazy! High on Red Ice. I didn't have a lot time to react before he just started…" He wasn't able to finish, obviously too upset over just having watched the other android – most likely his friend and coworker – get brutally attacked. Christopher crossed one arm over his chest and brought his free hand up to cover his mouth. Gavin wasn't exactly sure what to do. Once again, he felt to useless.

He moved his hand to place it on Christopher's shoulder, only catch sight of the blue that was slowly becoming invisible on his hand. His hand hovered for a second before he dropped it back down to his side. "It's alright. You did what you could. Do you know where he is now?" They had to catch this fucker.

The android nodded his head, only dropping his hand because he had to answer. Both arms were crossed in front of his chest. "He's in his office at Diamond Dust." Now that didn't make sense. Wouldn't he have run? Christopher offered him a small but sad smile. It didn't reach his eyes. It wasn't him at all. "I may have knocked him out and locked him inside so he couldn't leave." Gavin couldn't help but blink in surprise. He honestly wasn't expecting that. But then again, why shouldn't he? Christopher was the same model as Connor. Which meant he probably possessed the same martial prowess that Connor did. And he knew how effective Connor was in that aspect, having been on the receiving end of it. Kevin deserved every hit. That was for damned sure.

Gavin nodded his head again. "Thanks," He said before he tried to move to leave.

A hand on his arm stopped him. "Wait, where are you going?" Christopher sounded genuinely distressed about him leaving. He was not expecting that.

"To go arrest Kevin," He answered simply, like it was obvious that that's what he was going to do.

The hand on his arm tightened a little as Christopher chewed on his lower lip a bit. "Can…Could you stay? When Amber comes around…she'll want to talk to you."

"Why me?"

"Because we trust you," Christopher said softly with an honesty that caught Gavin off guard. He wasn't expecting that answer. He didn't know what he was expecting but it certainly wasn't that.

He swallowed before nodding his head. "Okay, I'll stay."

Christopher beamed at him. "Thank you so much." But that still meant that someone needed to go pick up the bastard. So he held up a finger to Christopher, indicating that he needed a minute. The android nodded and let go, although he didn't look happy about it. Gavin vaguely noticed how Christopher wrapped his arms around himself and moved to sit down at Gavin's desk. That was weird.

The detective quickly located his target. Hank was trying to talk to the man who brought Amber in. He was sitting at Hank's desk with his hands buried in his hands as he wept. Gavin walked over to him. "Anderson," he said softly, getting the old man's attention. He nodded his head off to the side. He needed to talk to him. Hank nodded, excusing himself as he moved over to where Gavin was.

"Yeah?"

"The fucker who did this is at Diamond Dust. Main office."

His eyebrow shot up. "So why don't you go get 'im?"

"I've been…asked to stay. Apparently the android wants to talk to me when…she comes to." He almost said 'if.' Not that he didn't belief in Richard and Connor's abilities. He just didn't know how effective they were at repairing another android. And what if she couldn't be repaired? Lost too much blue blood? Then there was nothing they could do. But still. He knew that if the man or even Christopher was ease dropping, then now was not the time to be his usual pessimist self.

Hank nodded his head. "Alright, I'll go pick 'im up." Gavin nodded his thanks. Once Hank had left, Christopher had moved over to comfort the other man, talking to him softly and rubbing his back. Gavin just left the two alone. He wasn't good at those kinds of things. So all they had to do was wait.

It hadn't taken long before Connor came out to tell them that Amber was operational again. She had sustained a lot of damage and would need to see an actual mechanic but for right now, she was stable. It took all of twenty minutes but it felt like an eternity. The man was the first to dart to his feet and rush to the room to check on her. Gavin followed suit, walking with Connor. Despite having washed his hands multiple times to get the blue blood off of them, he felt like it was still there. The sensation only worsened when he saw her.

Amber, the android, was sitting in one of the interrogation chairs. Her shirt was tattered, soaked with her own blood. She looked so tired, could barely keep her eyes open. Losing blood must've been as exhausting as it was for humans for androids. She was using her arms to cover her chest; doing her best to appear modest. Or probably to keep some dignity.

Her eyes immediately fell upon him when he walked into the room. "Are you Gavin?" He nodded his head. She let out a deep sigh, her shoulders tensing a little. She looks so uncomfortable. Not that Gavin blamed her. She was just attacked by a human. Plus she was surrounded by men. If Tina had been in the station, he would've asked her to talk to Amber. Just to make her more comfortable. Women typically liked to talk to other women.

The man that had brought her in was glued to her side, hand on her shoulder as he stood right against her. Somehow, it didn't look comforting even if he was trying to be.

Gavin did the first thing he could think of to help make her more comfortable. He shucked off his jacket, stepping closer to hold it out to her. He was met with a confused look from her. "So you can cover up. If you want."

_Software Instability ^^^_

She smiled sadly, taking it from him. "Thank you," she said softly as he put it on. He nodded his head to her again. With it zipped up, she looked a little more comfortable. But not by much.

Now that he didn't have his winter coat, he didn't have anywhere to put his hands besides his pants pockets. He was currently wearing a grey and black horizontally stripped sweater, which didn't include pockets unfortunately. So he put his fingers into his pockets as uncomfortable as he was now. "So what happened?" Gavin asked. They still needed her statement.

"What do you mean 'what happened!?' She was obviously attacked! Stop messing around and go get that animal!" The man beside her immediately erupted.

Gavin gave him a hard stare. "We currently have an officer picking him up. And we still need her statement if she wants to press charges."

He just looked offended by this. "Of course she's going to press charges! She was nearly stabbed to death!"

"If you won't shut up and let me talk to her then you can just leave," Gavin pulled his hands from his pockets to cross them over his chest. The man didn't look happy but he shut his mouth quickly. Gavin then looked back to Amber, who wasn't looking at anyone. Instead she was staring at the ground. "What happened?" he tried again, his tone softer than when he spoke to the man.

She didn't answer immediately. Hesitantly, she spoke very softly. "I was…with a client when he – Kevin – um…started to get very angry. He was yelling and pushing me around. Next thing I knew, he had a knife and he just kept stabbing me. Over and over again."

Before Gavin could even get a word in, the man jumped into action again. "See! He's crazy!"

"Dude, I swear to god – " Gavin started before Connor stepped forward.

"Why don't we wait outside while the Detective and Amber speak? I need to hear your statement as well." The man looked hesitant, looking down at Amber for permission.

She nodded her head at him. "I'll be okay." He nodded then, allowing Connor to lead him out of the interrogation room. Now it was just him, Amber, and Richard.

"What actually happened?" Gavin asked suddenly, causing her to jump.

"I don't know – "

Gavin gave her a knowing look. "You weren't with a client when he attacked you, were you?" She looked away from him, clearly ashamed as tears started to fall from her eyes. He let out a deep sigh, stepping forward until he was standing in front of her. He then dropped into a crouch. "Look, I'm gonna be straight with you. For me to help you, you have to be honest with me and tell me everything. I know you may not want to but it's the only way I can help you." She looked down at him, tears falling from her eyes at a faster rate.

"You promise you won't tell Justin?" He could only assume that was the man's name.

He nodded his head. "Entirely confidential. Just between you and me." Then he remembered. "And Richard, if you want him in here." She nodded her head a little too quickly at that. She might not be entirely comfortable being alone with Gavin. Which made sense. Gavin was human, Kevin was human and he attacked her. So he got back to his feet and sat in the chair opposite of her. "Okay, so start from the beginning."

It had taken some time but Amber told Gavin pretty much everything. Apparently Kevin was more of an asshole than he originally thought. Bastard was bribing the women that worked for him into doing sexual favors for him and his friends to keep their jobs. And the jobs of any of their friends. And had threatened them if they told anyone and went to the police. Mainly Gavin. So Christopher coming into talk to him had caused quite a bit of tension within the sex club. Amber had refused to do something for Kevin, and since he was smoking Red Ice, flew into a rage that resulted in her being attacked. She tried to escape when Christopher intervened, but she was too badly damaged to get very far. That's when Justin grabbed her and ran. Which also explained how Justin was able to carry her the entire way; he was an android as well. He and Amber were in a relationship, which was why Amber didn't want Justin finding out what she had been doing for them to keep both their jobs.

Talk about a mess. Once Gavin had heard everything, Amber and Justin were able to leave. Not after Amber returned his coat, thankfully. Justin had used the time Amber was with him to get her some replacement clothes. As far as he knew, their next destination was to get her repaired fully. He hoped so anyway.

Connor and Hank were interrogating Kevin, as much as he wanted to do it himself. Richard had immediately started working on the necessary paperwork from the interrogation, which Gavin was genuinely thankful for. He was running on fumes at this point. And he was starving.

What he wasn't expecting was for Christopher to be sitting at his desk when he and Richard exited the interrogation room. And he stayed when Gavin had made sure that Amber and Justin could safely go on their way. So when all was said and done, he approached his desk, and the android, leaning against it. "Something up?" He questioned.

Christopher looked up at him, soft smile on his lips. "I just wanted to apologize for Justin's behavior. I knew he wouldn't do it himself. He's not always like that. He just really loves Amber."

"I'm sure he's a stand-up guy," Gavin said sarcastically.

Christopher chuckled a bit at that. He then stared up at Gavin with that look in his eye that he usually had. "I can't help but notice that you're hungry. How about I get you something?"

Gavin stared down at him, brow furrowed together. "How did – " He then remembered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Ya know what, nevermind. As much as I appreciate the thought, I've got a lot of paperwork to do."

The android hummed thoughtfully. "Well, I believe I spotted a snack machine in the break room. At least allow me to do that for you."

The detective dropped his hand with a sigh. "Fine," he pushed off of the desk and started walking towards the vending machines that Christopher had mentioned. The android was right on his heels.

_Software Instability ^^^_

The break room was empty, which was an odd occurrence. But it meant that they could talk somewhat privately. Gavin still needed to speak to Christopher about what happened. And why it couldn't happen again. Although, this probably was the worse time to actually do it. He had only shown up at the station because his friend was stabbed. But if he didn't do it now, he probably wouldn't do it at all. He was so deep in thought that when Christopher spoke, he jumped.

"What would you like?" He had asked.

Gavin rubbed the back of his head, not even glancing at the options. "Whatever, I'm not picky," he mumbled. The android nodded, paying and choosing a bag of trail mix for him to eat. He pulled it out of the machine and handed it to Gavin. He nodded his head in thanks. "Thanks," he mumbled again, looking at the bag in his hands and not the android.

"You look like you have something to say," Christopher said softly.

He clenched and then unclenched his jaw a few times, shifting on his feet as well. "I do…but I don't think – well I  **know**  now isn't the best time to bring it up."

The android hummed a bit. "Tell me anyway."

He made it sound easy. Gavin huffed, glancing up at Christopher. "It's just that…" God he was bad at this. He shifted on his feet again.

"Is it about what happened? Between us?" At the mention, Gavin's cheeks began to heat up. He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. So he closed it and nodded instead. "Did you not enjoy yourself?"

That was enough of a shock to break him out of his stupor. "What? God no! I mean, yes. I mean," He let out a deep breath. "Let me start over. I had a great time. A really great time. It's just…it's not something that we can…ya know, do again." He had been looking everywhere but at Christopher as he spoke. It wasn't until he finished that he finally glanced up at him again.

The android was smiling softly at him, looking at patient as ever. "That's quite alright. I figured as much when you didn't contact me."

Well that made Gavin feel like shit. "I don't have your number," He shrugged.

"Yes you do." Gavin gave him a confused look. "It's with that report I filed."

He facepalmed himself. "Right." Right, Richard would've put it in after they interfaced. Wow, he was a fucking idiot. Christopher laughed lightly at him. "Right well, thank you for, uh, the snack," he shook the back in his hand. "I don't wanna keep you from…whatever you're gonna do." Ugh he hated how awkward this was! This was why he hated these talks! But something was still bothering him.

"You look like there's something else."

Damn it! How did he know!? "It's nothing important," Gavin assured him, waving his hand like that would somehow prove his case. Christopher just cocked an eyebrow at him and waited. The detective licked his lips. "I just…I don't understand why you slept with me in the first place, I guess. I mean, you're…ya know. And I'm…" He gestured to himself like that was all the answer in the world. He was an asshole. He was old. He was scared up.

Christopher looked him up and down, smile transforming into a smirk that got Gavin's blood going. He then looked him right in the eye once he was done scanning his body. "It's quite simple actually. I have sex with my clients because I have to. With you, it was because I  **wanted**  to." Gavin's mouth suddenly became dry, but he swallowed none the less. Christopher's eyes darted down to follow the motion of his Adam's apple. "You're an attractive man Gavin. I wasn't lying when I said I enjoyed myself that night." He stepped closer to Gavin, cupping his cheek gently. He couldn't help but lean into it slightly. This caused Christopher to beam. "If you ever do change your mind, my door is always open to you." Then he leaned forward and pressed their lips together.

Gavin's heart was hammering in his chest. Eyes closed, cheeks burning, he found himself kissing back. Then almost as soon as it had started, they separated. Which was probably for the best.

_Software Instability ^^^_

"Detective." Gavin jumped, eyes darting over to see Richard standing at the entrance of the break room. "The report requires your signature." Gavin nodded his head at him, and Richard promptly turned on its heel to walk away.

Gavin swallowed hard again, licking his lips as he looked back at Christopher. "Right, so. Um…" He coughed. "Thanks again for the snack. I gotta – yeah." He walked out of the break room with Christopher laughing. Once at his desk, Gavin sat down. And Christopher kept walking, waving goodbye to Gavin. He returned it by just lifting his hand before he turned to look away from the android. Staring down at the trail mix bag in his hands, he realized that he wasn't hungry anymore. So he tossed them onto his desk before burying his face in his hands.

"You look like someone just kicked your puppy. Or maybe you are the kicked puppy. I can't tell," Tina said to his left.

"Shut up," He grumbled into his palms. Although it didn't contain anywhere close to the usual bite it usually did.

"So…wanna tell me 'bout it?" He groaned loudly. Gavin removed his hands from his face only to thump his head onto the surface of his desk. "That bad huh?"

"He was so  **good** , Tina," He whined at the floor.

_Software Instability ^^^_

"I…don't see the problem. Call him up, ask him for another night out."

If only it was that easy. "I told him it was a one-time thing."

Tina was quiet for a moment. "The fuck you do that for?"

Gavin finally lifted his head up from his desk to look up at her. He shrugged a bit. "Seemed like the right thing to do…" She frowned at him. He let out a deep sigh. "I need a smoke." He stood up from his seat, nodding his head at her to join him. He honestly didn't feel like having this talk with Richard and Connor around. Even if he was just going to tell Tina that while the sex was good, it felt like he was getting tangled into the weird potential family that was the RK series.

Once they were alone and he told her that, she immediately understood. Having sex with someone's family member in the precinct was awkward enough. Having two of those family members, and one of them be your partner just made it even worse. Tina apologized, realizing that she should've kept her mouth shut. Especially with how bad he had been feeling after the deed. Gavin accepted her apology. He apologized as well, for freaking out like he did. They were back on speaking terms again, and Gavin had his friend back.

They talked some more, caught up with each other before they deemed their smoke break over and Gavin got back to work.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive! It's been so long guys! I'm sorry. I had a hell of a time writing this damned chapter. I wrote half of it, realized it was out of character for everyone and had to rewrite it. I like this second attempt so much better. I hope you like it as well. 
> 
> As you can see, the Instabilities are stacking up! And happening a bit more frequently! Shit's about to go down guys. Buckle up.
> 
> Any and all feedback helps feed my muse and let's me know that you guys like what I'm doing.
> 
> If you'd like to keep up with my progress and updates, check out my tumblr: pennameab
> 
> See you guys in the next chapter!


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